Siren
by MayAngelsLeadYouIn
Summary: Lettie Morgan was your average girl. Poor, single parent home, and... a mutant? Read Lettie's story as she is introduced to fellow mutants, fights for her life, makes friends, enemies, and falls in love. Havok/OC rated for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, guys. I'll admit I didn't fall in love with Havok the first time I saw XFC. It wasn't until I really began to watch it over and over again that I realized that I really liked him. I always thought he was drop dead gorgeous, of course. But then I realized that I liked HIM, too. So here's my first XFC FF! Wish me luck!**

* * *

Lettie Morgan was working the late shift at Engalls, the bookstore/coffee shop just down the block from her apartment. It was a cold, rainy, October night in Maine and not many people were venturing out into the torrential downpour outside. Lettie sighed as she placed a book back in its proper place. What's the point in being a freak if her 'powers' couldn't even stop the rain?

While Lettie was an extraordinarily normal girl in most aspects, a 19 year old girl living with her single mother in a rather shoddy apartment, insecure about her weight, awkward but loved, and juggling a part time job while attending cosmetology school, there was one aspect in which she was very abnormal. Lettie Morgan was a mutant.

For as long as she could remember, Lettie had known. She kept it hidden from all but her mother, but deep down, Lettie had a horrible insecurity that everyone knew. The young girl could manhandle water. It obeyed her and did as she wished, on most occasions. It came in handy often, whether the many times her mother had started a fire in their miniscule kitchen, or the time she had been dancing and knocked the fish bowl off the table. She had managed to keep the fish wet enough that he sustained no injury or trauma (as far as she could tell. I mean, he is a fish after all). She had once held her breath underwater for 17 minutes before she freaked out and swam up, but she could have made it longer. It seemed the only water she couldn't control was the stuff falling from the sky, and believe you me, she tried.

Lettie heard the door chime at the front of the store for the first time in hours.

"Welcome to Engalls!" She called out as she moved to the front of the store, her Irish accent obvious in her voice. She hadn't lived in Ireland in four years, but her accent was still very prevalent. "I'm just here in the back, but f you need anything, feel free to let me know." She had finally found where the customers, two men drenched to the core, were standing, still by the front door. Her smile faltered, only for a second, as she took in the customers. There was something off about these two. "Can I help you lads with anything?"

"Actually," The man on the left spoke with a British accent. "I would love a coffee. Erik? Coffee?"

"That would be grand." The other man spoke. He looked like the tougher, colder man of the two. German, Lettie assumed.

"Of course. I'll have it ready soon." Lettie went off to the coffee bar, and the strange men followed her. "I can bring your coffees to you, if you want to browse while it brews."

"We'll wait here, love." The one not named Erik told her. _Greeeaaattt_. She has the pot on the coffee maker, praying it to brew quickly.

"Charles, let's get this over with..." Erik muttered. Lettie instantly tense. Get _what_ over with? She looked around for a weapon and placed a firm grip on the tin milk canister. If they were going to kidnap or mug or murder her, she wasn't going without a fight.

Charles, the 'warm' one, chuckled. "We're not going to harm you in any way, love. We just need to talk to you."

Lettie never released her grip on the canister. "About?"

"We're like you, Lettie." Charles spoke encouragingly.

"How the fuck do you know my name? Like me how?"

"We're different. We can do things others cant. For instance-"

Suddenly, Charles' voice was in her head. *_**I'm a telepath. I can read your mind, your thoughts, memories, as well as project my own into your mind***_

"Holy shit." Lettie whispered. She'd never met someone else with a mutation.

"Yes, it's quite astonishing." Charles smiled warmly. Just as Lettie had begun to wonder about Erik's mutation, Charles spoke again. "Erik can m-" but he was interrupted by Erik himself.

"I think I'd rather just show her if you don't mind, Charles." Charles gestured his consent and Lettie felt the milk canister being lifted from her hand.

"You're telekinetic?" She whispered.

"Metal bender." Erik corrected as the still floating canister crumpled before her eyes, then uncrumpled back to its previous condition.

"Cool." Lettie whispered in awe. "I'm assuming you know my mutation already? And, not that I'm not thoroughly impressed, but why are you here?"

"Let's start with your mutation first. Why don't you show up?" Charles encouraged.

Lettie shot the stranger a look. She didn't show people her mutation. Then again, she didn't often hold conversations with two strange men, alone in the shop at Nine at Night. Nor had she ever talked to other mutants before. And they _had_ shown her theirs...

"Alright. But first..." Lettie turned and poured three cups of the now brewed coffee. She brought over the sugar and creamer. While she and Charles fixed their drinks to perfection, Erik quickly chugged the entire cup, black. Taken back a smidgen, Lettie placed the pot on a warmer in front of the men. "Help yourselves." Erik poured him a second cup while Charles still sipped on his first.

Lettie took a sip and placed hers on the table. She blocked out any distractions and focused on absorbing the water off of the two strange mens person and belongings. She could feel water droplets forming onto her cupped hands. She managed to absorb some of the water into herself, but most of the water remained in her hands. The harder and harder she focused, the more intense the strong pull in her abdomen became.

When the pull had become painfully strong, she huffed in frustration and opened her eyes, looking at her hands. Most of the water that had previously been on the two men fell from her hands and crashed to the floor. Giving up, she dropped her hands in defeat.

"I'm better at producing water. But that tires me quicker." She admitted.

"My dear, that was magnificent!" Look at us! You'd never guess we'd just left that rain out there!" Charles beamed.

"Now, why are you here?" Lettie asked, seemingly unaffected by Charles' praise.

"Right. Well, simply put, there are others out there. Others like us. And not all of them are good. There's a war coming, and I fear that every mutant with have to pick a side before we see the end of this war." Charles said softly.

"And you want me on your side." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Charles nodded. "So, if I agreed to fight for 'your side', what would that mean?"

"We're gathering several mutants at a remote CIA Headquarters, called Division X. Gathering to train, strengthen powers, learn to control powers."

"And I don't suppose this Division X is in Maine, is it?"

"No, you're correct. The Division is in Richmond, Virginia." Erik answered.

"Let me just clarify what you're saying. The two of you waltz up into my fucking place of work, tell me there are other 'mutants' like me out there, inform me that there's a damn war coming, then expect me to just run off to bloody Richmond, Virginia with you wankers to train for this 'war'? Are you out of your fucking minds?! What about my _mom_, huh? What about my _job?_ And _school? _I may not have the nicest house or the easiest life, but my life is damn cozy and I enjoy it Why should I come with you two strangers?!" Lettie had sat calmly through the talk, but she had snapped when she thought about the fact that these guys wanted her to just leave her mom behind to go fight in their war. Erik had sat quietly through most of this conversation, but now he spoke up.

"We're not kidnapping you. You don't have to go. But you will be able to see your mom again. We won't stop you. And as for why... because it's the right thing to do. We mutants shouldn't have to hide anymore! Someday, hopefully, we'll be accepted! Don't you want to say that you were a part of the fight for the right for us mutants to live normal lives? For some with hidden mutations, it's alright. But what about the others? The ones that have visible mutations? Should they not have a chance at a normal life?"

Lettie sat, thinking this over. "If I agree to go and then decide later that I want to leave?"

"We won't stop you." Charles promised. Lettie studied his face for a considerable amount of time. She saw no lie in his eyes, no harm in his voice.

"Can we stop by my house? I need to at least leave my ma a note."

* * *

**I've gotten quite a few chapters written out. I wasn't planning on posting until I'd finished the complete story, but I'm such an impatient person. I couldn't wait! I'm going to start typing out the next chapter tonight, but I'm dead tired. I'll definitely have it out by Wednesday, though. I've never done this before, but I may try and set up a schedule. Post on certain days every week. It's just so hard because I work different days every week and some days I get off at 5 pm and some days I don't get off until 1 AM. So... I'll think about it. I hope you've enjoyed the little bit of the story you've seen. And yes, it's going to stay 3rd POV the entire time.**

**x  
**

**moe.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, chapter two is here. Yay! Now, any of my ever faithful readers, whom I love dearly, know that I have a tendency of writing long chapters sometimes. Some days I may be lucky to reach 1,000 words, and other days I have a hard time stopping before I reach 5,000. Just a fair warning. This chapter has a little scene of... questionable character. Nothing really to worry about. Please enjoy. And let me know your thoughts/concerns/questions after. Thank you to my two reviewers. You guys deserve a free puppy. That's already housetrained. xx  
**

* * *

_Mom, _

_First, know that I love you. I love you so much. Second, know that I'm okay. There's more people like me out there, ma. Two found me last night. They offered to train me. To help me to increase my powers and learn how to control them. They said i"ll be able to visit, but I'm not sure when. I'll call if I can. I love you so much, and I'm sorry. But this is what I feel I have to do. Don't forget to feed the fish._

_Love always, Lettie._

_I'll see you as soon as I can!_

A solitary tear slid down Lettie's face as she placed the letter on the mail pile, the first place her mom would look when she got home from her late shift at the hospital. Charles and Erik had waited in the car while Lettie left the letter and grabbed a few personal items. She didn't get much, just some clothes, a few pictures and her Hobbit book.

Looking around the tiny apartment that she had shared with her mom for years now, she couldn't help the tears from cascading down her face. Making a last second decision, she went quickly o her moms room and grabbed a bottle of the perfume she always kept stocked up on. Her mothers smell had always comforted her.

Wiping the tears from her eyes as she walked out of the door for the last time in who knows how long, she quickly walked down the flour flights of steps to the car awaiting her.

"Everythin-"

"Let's just go." Lettie cut Charles off.

"As you wish." Erik nodded consensually and stepped on the gas.

The ride from Maine to Virginia was a long one that was relatively quiet. Lettie slept off on and, sometimes joining in the conversation, sometimes just listening to staring blankly out the window at the quickly passing scenery – dark trees followed by more dark trees, occasionally broken up by dark trees. Lettie awoke to the car jolting to a stop. "Are we there?" She mumbled, her eyes still tightly closed in her state of sleep.

"No." Charles replied. "We're stopping for gas."

Lettie groaned. "I'm going to stretch my legs." She informed him as she got out of the car.

Charles nodded and told her to hurry back as she walked into the convenience store. Which was in the middle of no where. Going to the restroom, she did her business and spent a good five minutes splashing water on her face, attempting to process the nights events. The water calmed her nerves and she left the restroom to walk around the store for a minute.

A nice looking, slightly dirty, man walked up beside her as she was looking at the odds and ends counter.

"Are you here with those two men?" He asked.

"Yes." She nodded. "Why, are they looking for me?"

"Naw, but how about you ditch those pricks and come with me. What do you say, baby?" He whispered seductively. "And if you only do two at a time, I'm sure my buddy would be willing to join. Ain't that right, Jamie?" The man had shouted this last part.

"Damn straight!" The guy behind the counter, Jamie, shouted back.

"Let's go." The guy grabbed Lettie's arm, but she jerked out of his grasp and stepped away.

"Fuck off." She spat, walking to the door.

"HEY! Come back here you little bitch. There are girls that would die for a night with THE Arthur Watson." He had grabbed her arm again.

"Well, _Arthur Watson_, I would rather just die." Lettie shrugged his arm off of her once more. Al look of shock passed over Arthur Watson's face before he quickly grabbed the short red head and threw her over his shoulder. She instantly began yelling for Charles or Erik

"Shut the hell up, you fucking whore. You're such a fat ass, it's not like many guys actually WANT to be with you. You'd think that you'd be grateful!"

Lettie fell silent at the fat ass quip. She had always been self-conscious about her weight. She had always known she was bigger. She had a bit of a pouch on her stomach, her thighs touched slightly when she walked, and her cheeks had a bit of a roundness to them. She was bigger, yes, but to actually be called a fat ass? It stung, even if it was by a dirty guy trying to force her to have sex with him.

Lettie calmed, stopped kicking, and focused all of her energy on the water she felt all around her. She prayed that her powers wouldn't fail her this time. The tug in her stomach started and she focused more energy on her ally, the water. There was a giant pull in her stomach, almost like pulling a tooth with a string attached to the door, and water flew at the two of them from all directions. Arthur, in surprise, dropped Lettie, who bolted from the store while doing her best not to fall on the now slippery floors.

"We need to go!" She yelled as she jumped in the car.

"We haven't paid yet! Or finished pumping!" Erik replied through the open drivers window.

"We'll stop for more later, Erik, please!" Lettie begged, looking into the store and seeing an angry and wet Arthur coming towards the door.

"Erik, get in the car." Charles demanded. Erik huffed, then seeing Arthur emerge from the store, quickly obeyed. Arthur tried running after the car, but soon fell behind.

"Mind explaining what happened back there, Lettie?' Erik demanded rather than asked. After Lettie explained what happened, the car began to slow down.

"What are you doing?" Charles asked.

"Going back." Erik replied calmly.

"NO! Erik, please. Let's just get to wherever the hell it is we're going." Lettie pleaded. Erik glanced at her in the rear-view mirror before setting his eyes on the road and regaining speed.

"Lettie, I am so ashamed that one of us weren't there to help you. This is unacceptable and it never should have happened." Charles apologized sincerely.

"No worries, Charles. At least I know that my powers seem to cooperate in emergencies. Although, I was in the store for a good ten minutes. Why were you still not done pumping the gas?"

"Ahhh." Charles chuckled slightly. "We had stretched our legs for a few minutes as well. When we got back we had some... difficulty with the gas pump."

"What kind of difficulty?" Lettie couldn't understand how it could have been so hard to pump gas.

"The kind that is none of your business." Erik replied quickly.

"Erik, have you never learned to pump gas before?"

"Go to sleep."

"Nighty-night Erik! Charles!" She laughed. For once, Lettie did as she was told and went to sleep.

When she awoke later, she felt a slight nudge in her mind. Moaning, she opened her eyes and saw a bright building amongst all the dark trees and a pitch black, starless sky.

"This is it?" Lettie asked.

"This is it." Erik mumbled.

"How long are we staying here?"

"Mmm. Now that, I'm not sure. But for now, this is your new home." Charles told her cheerfully.

Home. By now, Lettie thought, her mom had already come home. Instead of finding her daughter waiting for her with a nice cup of tea like she expected, she had found only a letter, telling her of Lettie's departure. Lettie tried not to let this bother her as she was led into the bland building. She was relieved to find that the inside had a home homier feel. But it still wasn't home.

Lettie was led through a grand lobby, up a grand staircase and down a long hallway. Charles places a comforting hand on her back. "The others are in here. Are you ready to meet others like you?" He asked with a smile.

"Been ready." Lettie smiled, hoping she was coming off as more confident than she actually was. Then she remembered that Charles was a mind-reader. "Charles, let's make a deal. You don't read MY mind without permission and I won't use MY powers to drown YOU in your sleep, yeah?"

"Deal." Charles agreed, unoffended. He opened the door and ushered her in. There were already quite a few people sat around on couches. "Alright, everyone. This is Lettie. Raven, I trust you'll help her get acquainted?"

A pretty blonde haired girl, Raven Lettie assumed, jumped up from her seat on the couch. "I'll take it from here." She promised Charles. He and Erik walked out as the blonde girl turned to Lettie. "I'm Raven. We're just about to show each other our powers!" She sounded excited. "You've already missed mine, but..." Before her eyes, Lettie watched as the girl beside her transformed to look just like her. "My code name is Mystique."

"Awesome." Lettie whispered as Raven/Mystique transformed back into her beautiful self and pulled her by the hand and sat her at the end of a couch, then sat beside her in the middle.

"Alright, Darwin. What about you?"

"Well," A black man sat opposite Lettie answered. "Darwin's already a nickname. Kind of fits." He stood up and walked to the fish tank behind him. "Adapt to survive and all? Check this out." He stuck his head into the fish tank and almost instantly, gills grew on the side of his face and he turned to face the group, breathing perfectly fine, and flashed his almost too white smile.

"Woah!"'s and "Awesome!"'s filled the room, along with applause as he pulled his head out of the tank and shook it dry. Darwin bowed as he made his way back to his seat.

"Ya know, I really wanted to be Mystique." The ginger boy sat in a chair beside Darwin spoke up.

"Well, tough. I called it." Raven stuck her tongue out.

Ginger rolled his eyes. "I guess I'll be... Banshee."

"Why do you want to be named after a wailing spirit?" A brunette boy at the other end of Lettie's couch asked.

"You might want to cover your ears." The red-head said as he swaggered to the table between the two couches. "I'm Sean, by the way." He stuck his hand out and shook Lettie's. Lettie quickly shook his hand and returned her hand to cover her ears as Sean winked at her and leaned down level with the glasses on the coffee table. He took in a deep breath, glanced around, and released a short burst of air. The "YEEEP" sound penetrated into everyone's brain, despite the hands covering their ears. Everyone cringed then laughed as they realized Sean's attack on the glasses had failed, instead shattering the huge window behind them.

"Yeah, Banshee is perfect." A girl on the couch opposite Lettie laughed then stood up. "My _stage name _is Angel." She said bitterly. The ginger boy in the chair whistled lowly at her lock of clothes. As she shook her arms a smidge, the tattoos on her back, shoulders, and arms lifted off of her skin and became wings.

"You can FLY?!" Lettie exclaimed in awe.

"Uh huh. And, uh, " Angel turned to the window Sean had earlier busted and spit. A fireball flew out of her mouth and landed on the head of the statue outside. Impressive.

"What about you, Hank?" Sean asked. "What's your name going to be?"

"How about Bigfoot?" A blond guy in the chair beside Lettie suggested. The words, while said jokingly, still held a bit of a harsh undertone to them.

"Well, you know what they say about guys with big feet." Raven quipped back, quite defensively. "And, uh, yours are kind of... small." Raven fake whispered, as she craned to get a look at Blondie's feet. Laughter fell from everyone but the blond guy, who just took a swig of his drink.

"What can you do, Alex? What are your powers?" Darwin asked.

Alex – a.k.a Blondie – dropped his head. "I – uh – I can't do it. I mean, I – uh – I just can't do it in here."

"Well, can you do it out there?" Angel asked, gesturing through the broken window.

"Yeah, why don't you just do it out there?" Raven reiterated. Alex sighed. Lettie could tell he really didn't want to show anyone. He looked around as Raven, Sean, and Darwin began clapping and chanting "Alex! Alex! Alex!". He looked around the room dramatically at each person, starting at Sean and finally resting on Lettie, who simply shrugged. Sighing once more, Alex stood and began walking towards the busted window.

"That's the spirit!" Darwin encouraged as the others clapped.

Alex ignored this and said firmly, "Get down when I tell you."

"Ooh, get down when I tell you." The others mocked Alex as they stood inside the open window.

As Alex found his position outside, he ordered the. "Get back!"

As a whole, the other six mutants hid behind the wall, then almost immediately returned to their previous positions. Alex turned and motioned with his hands. "I said get back!" When they didn't budge he growled, "whatever." And turned back to the bronze statue.

Alex began to rotate his hips round and round. Glowing red rings formed across his torso, then shot outwards. The six mutants shot behind the wall for protection then re-emerged to see Alex standing in front of the statue, which had been sliced in half. The torso lay upright on the ground and the legs remained attached, but on fire, while Alex stood, unaffected.

The others clapped and cheered as they saw how cool and powerful Alex's mutation was. Alex walked over to stand outside the window

"What about you?" He asked Lettie. All eyes turned to her. Sighing, she stepped over the wall that had once held the windows. She stood in the exact spot Alex had and, without breaking eye contact with him, quickly used her power to extinguish the fire Alex had created. The others cheered in awe. When Lettie realized that she was still holding eye contact with Alex, she dropped her head, embarrassed.

"Siren." Raven shouted out. "According to Greek Mythology, Sirens live in the water and used their song and beauty to lure sailors to their death!"

"Sounds suitable." Alex murmured.

"Now... Let's have some fun!" Sean shouted as he ran back towards the sitting area, the others following behind.

* * *

**Oooh. Lettie's got some balls, yeah? That's the way I meant it to sound, at least, with her somewhat challenging Alex the way she did, using her powers to beat out his... Yeah. Anywho, let me know what's up!**

**xxx  
**

**M.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Aaaalllrighty theeeen. I've done a pretty solid job at updating this story thus far. I know it's only three chapters in, but I haven't already just like, forgotten. Granted, I do already have all of this already written out, so it's just a matter of typing it and uploading it, but still... I need to write some more. I've got like, half a chapter left already written out. So I guess I know what I'll be doing when I get home tomorrow night. Anyways, I've gotten two reviews, but that's it. I can't tell if it's because no one is reading the story, or if no one likes the story. Please, even if you don't like it, let me know. I'm always up for some criticism. Yaaaay.**  
**Soo, yeah. Here's chapter three xx**

* * *

Hank had found a radio that he quickly tuned to a decent station, then lodged himself upside down from one of the hanging light fixtures. Sean and Alex were using anything they could get their hands on to beat up Darwin, who's body quickly adapted. The only thing getting beat up was the furniture they were using. Angel, Raven and Lettie were dancing wildly to the music and jumping on the couch, laughing the whole time. For the first time in a along time, each person in that room felt at ease. Each person felt... normal.

After 20 minutes of aimless and random dancing, Lettie jumped down from the couch exhausted and breathing heavily. Ignoring the other girls calls for her to come back, she walked over to where Hank was still perched upside down.

"Doesn't your blood rush to your head after a while?" She asked laughing. "You've been up there for ages!"

"Nope. I guess it's just another part of my mutation."

"I never actually got to learn about your mutation." Lettie noted. "your feet are... amazing. I bet two extra hands really come in... handy." She winked and nudged Hank. They shared a laugh at her rather awful pun.

"I suppose. I have super speed, too. I just wish I looked normal." Hank said quietly.

"Normal is so over-rated." Lettie smiled before she heard Sean calling her over.

"Hey, Siren! Come drown Darwin!" This made her laugh and shake her head as she walked over to the unruly boys. Sean and Alex were both extremely out of breath and tired looking, where as Darwin looked as if he had just woken up from a refreshing nap. Alex was still going at him with a metal chair leg while Darwin screamed at him to go harder and put some muscle into it. Just as Lettie had begun to summon water, an official – and pissed – sounding voice broke through.

"**What **are you doing?!"

Lettie turned and saw Charles and Erik standing outside of the broken window with a pretty brunette woman. The girls stopped laughing and dancing, falling ashamedly from the couch. Alex stopped his assault on Darwin and Hank fell from the light fixture. Someone turned the music off, leaving the group in silence. The three newcomers looked angry.

"Who destroyed the statue?!" The pretty brunette demanded.

"It was Alex." Hank quickly offered.

"No – no. We have to call him Havok now." Raven spoke up. She moved to the front of the group. "And we decided you should be Professor X," She pointed at Charles. "And you should be Magneto." She pointed at Erik.

"Exceptional." Erik said monotone before he and the brunette stalked off.

"I expect more from you." Charles said sadly before walking after the others. While he may have meant it for the whole group, Lettie could tell it was mainly directed at Raven. Her arm that had been pointed at Erik fell limply to her side.

Lettie and Angel quickly rushed to Ravens side and ushered her to the couch.

"Hey, don't look so down." Angel urged.

"Yeah, we were just having a little fun!" Lettie added.

"He's never been disappointed in me before." Raven whispered sadly.

"It's not the end of the world, Raven." Lettie lightly touched shoulders with her.

"He wasn't JUST upset at you, girl. We were _all _doing it."

"i know, it's just-"

The door swung open and one of the C.I.A. Agents came through.

"I'm Agent Vant. I'm going to show you around quickly, we'll eat dinner and get you guys transferred to a room that isn't destroyed."

The guys, who had been awkwardly standing behind the couch, walked forward and waited for the girls. Raven gave a sigh and stood, the other girls following quickly. As a group, they followed the agent out the door. Going up a flight of stairs and down another hallways, Agent Vant stopped.

"Ladies, this is your room." He announced while opening a door on the right. "Three beds, three wardrobes, one bathroom." The girls walked in and saw it was a humongous, homey feeling room. Tan walls and red accents. Tons of plush pillows on the plush beds. Tall ceilings and a huge fireplace.

"Boys, your room is the same on the left." Vant said. Hank opened the door to an identical room.

"So, who's hungry?" The friendly agent asked. As they took the many hallways and staircases, the agent asked about their mutations. He looked like a good guy. Friendly. Maybe it was the big belly, bald head and hearty laugh, but all the mutants enjoyed his presence.

The dining hall was a large room, dimly lit with wall fixtures, and about 20 tables suitable for 6-8 people. Going through the line, each person grabbed a tray and filled it with a variety of foods. It was like a buffet here, any kind of food you could want. Sitting at a table away from the fuller ones, Agent Vant took his leave.

"I'll be right over here." He told the mutants, pointing to a table already surrounded by people. "I'll come back around when it looks like you're all done."

As the mutants were enjoying their meal, the first proper one in a while for some, they sat in a comfortable silence. It was finally broken by Raven, who suggested they get to know each other better by stalking about their past.

"Mine isn't very interesting. My parents left me alone in a grocery store when I was nine. My mutation had always freaked them out. I survived by breaking into houses and stealing food. I was eleven when Charles found me in his kitchen. He took me in and his mother never even knew. She never talked to him or looked at him after his father died. She died herself when I was twelve and Charles was sixteen. We got rid of the maids and lived fine on our own for the past seven years. We've had a good life. How about you, Darwin?"

"Well, I'm a 25 year old cab driver from New York City. I grew up with my mom and seven siblings. I started working from when I was 14, while attending school, to help support my family. I have no wife or kids and most of my family is dead. But that's life. That's my life. Not much else. Sean?"

"I'm the awkward kid that girls never give a second look. I don't have very many friends, only two or three, but I've got a good family life. My parents, my two sisters and I all live together. We have fun. But outside of the home, I'm a complete loser. Angel?"

"I'm a stripper. I ran away from home because my dad's a piece of shit. I'm not exactly proud of my job but it pays the bills. A job's a job when you're struggling to support yourself. I don't take the time to make friends. If I'm not at work I'm out looking for something better. There has to be more for me out there than just selling my body out. How about you, Lettie?"

"Honestly, my life seems like a walk in the park compared to... My dad died when I was 15. My mam had some mid-life crisis or mental breakdown, I don't know, but she moved us from Mullingar, Ireland to Berkshire, Maine. I work in a book/coffee shop and I'm in school for cosmetology. I don't have very many _friends _but I have a load of... acquaintances. Me mum and I live in a shoddy apartment, but we're happy. Because we've got each other. Or we **did**, until I up at left!" Lettie sat there for a few minutes, mentally beating herself up. A silence had fallen over the table until Lettie finally spoke. "Alex?"

Alex sat in silence, his jaws and fists were clinched tight. He let out a long sigh and began. "I've -"

"You guys all ready?" Agent Vant interrupted. "We've got the room all ready."

The table nodded and stood up in unison, going to dump their trays and follow Vant to their room.

"You're free to go to your rooms whenever. Breakfast is from six until nine in the morning. We'll meet up then. You kids have a good night. And, uh, let's try not to destroy this room, yeah?"

The mutants all laughed, nodded and bade Vant goodnight as they gathered around on the chairs and couches again.

"So, Alex., you were saying?" Sean asked.

"It doesn't matter." Alex spoke, extremely short.

"Doesn't matter?" Lettie asked. "We want to know."

"No, you don't."

"_Actually_, we do. We all told our pasts, whether good, bad or embarrassing. What makes you so fucking special?" Lettie asked with anger in her voice.

"Because if I tell you my past, none of you will look at me the same." Alex spoke, his voice raised.

"_**REALLY?! **_Raven stole for years! Sean was a loser! I'm a nobody. Angel is a fucking STRIPPER!" Lettie yelled back. "But YOU can't tell us what was _SO _bad? What could you have POSSIBLY done that's so fucking bad?!" Lettie's temper was getting the best of her. It tended to flair up unnecessarily sometimes. It was a curse and a blessing.

"I've been in prison since I was 14! Solitary confinement since 16! I've not interacted with people in four years! You know why?"

"_**WHY?!**_" Lettie yelled as the other mutants watched the duets yelling match in a mixture of fear, entertainment and shock.

"Because I've killed people! On two separate occasions! I'm a killer! It doesn't happen on purpose, but my... powers. I can't always control them." Alex had gone from shouting to an almost whisper by the end of his sentence.

"Your powers killed those people. Not you. Sometimes, powers just... win. Lord knows there's been times when I had no control over mine." Lettie whispered as she went and sat beside him, placing a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry I yelled. My temper has a mind of it's own. My ma says it because I'm Irish, but she never loses it like that."

The rest of the room watched in silence, as they had from the very beginning, as the two hot-headed mutants spoke and focused on only each other.

"My sister." Alex choked out. "We got into a fight, something stupid like always. I ran out into my back yard and it just... shot out. The house exploded into flames. She... She couldn't make it out." Alex dropped his head into his hands and Lettie rubbed gentle circles into the small of his back.

"You don't have to talk about it." She reassured him. "Not yet. I'm sorry I pushed."

"No. You all need to know just how dangerous I am." Alex told her, head still dropped. "When I was in prison, this new guy came in. Wanted to make a name for himself, I guess, so he was beating the shit out of me. When I tried to push him off, the... whatever it is... shout out of my hands. No one understood what happened, they just knew I'd done it. When they tried to get me out of solitary, I asked to stay. I can't trust myself around other people."

"I'm sorry, truly, that you've had to handle all of that burden. For so long, and you're so young. But Charles is going to help all of us with our powers. He'll teach you how to harness and control it. You don't have to live in fear anymore. And, I can't speak for the others, but I don't see you any differently. You're still Alex, my new friend."

The other mutants joined into the conversation for the first time, stating their agreement.

"C'mon guys, it's our first night together. Let's save the emotional for the second day." Darwin said lightly. "We'll have plenty of time together. I see a pin ball machine in the corner and, well, I'm the Master of Pin ball. Anyone wanna try me?"

"I'm game." Alex said, rising from his seat.

"Mind if I watch?" Lettie asked. "I'll play the winner and prove I'M the Master of Pin ball."

"We'll see about that." Darwin laughed.

The other four mutants remained on the couches while Darwin, Alex and Lettie began their mini-tournament. Darwin went first and Lettie had to admit that he was good. She didn't think he would ever stop. His turn was finally over and he had scored well over 2,000,000. Alex took over and had flew past Darwin's score in no time.

"Dang dude, you are killin' me!" Darwin noted.

"Yeah, well, don't beat yourself up. I've had a lot of spare time." Alex stated.

"Your pin ball skills are impress-" Lettie faltered off when she heard what sounded like a scream and a thud. "What was that?"

"I dunno, but something doesn't feel right." Darwin said before going over to where the others were already grouped around the window. Lettie followed and Alex came right behind her. Plastering her face to the window, Lettie looked to the sky and saw an odd shaped figure in the sky.

"What is that?!" Angel asked. As if in response, the figure changed. Half of it disappeared and the other half came hurtling to the ground. The group all jumped back as the screaming agent hit the ground hard.

"Holy SHIT!" Lettie yelled as she saw more and more falling agents. Agents armed with guns filled the courtyard outside of the mutants room, but they were no match for whatever was attacking them. One by one, they mutants watched as the Agents fell victim. Vant came into view.

"Stay in the room! Stay out of sight! Stay down!" He yelled through the window as a red man appeared behind him. The kids all pointed and yelled, but it was too late. Agent Vant was dead. Lettie covered her mouth to muffle the scream/sob that was trying to escape. Some Agent began firing bullets at random, causing the window to the mutants room to be shattered once more. The mutants all leaped behind the furniture to avoid being hit by rogue bullets and Lettie found herself smushed between a chair and a warm body.

"Stay here my ass!" Darwin yelled. "Let's go!" Darwin stood and ran out of the room quickly. Lettie felt the body that had been smushing her against the chair move away and she found herself being hauled to her feet and dragged out of the room by her hand. Alex. Alex was dragging her. And she let him. When the group made it to the end of the hallways where several guards were stood, they were immediately ordered back to their room.

"We can help! We want to help!" Darwin offered. No sooner than the words were out of his mouth, there was an explosion, the flames licking around the corridor corner. Alex flung Lettie around and pushed her back to the room.

"Go!" He ordered. There was so much noise and confusion. People were running everywhere, screaming, explosions and gunshots echoed off of every wall. The fact that all seven mutants made it back to the room unharmed was a miracle. Once more, they grouped together behind the couches and chairs, watching as the last of the CIA agents were mowed to the ground in the court yard. The group watched in horror as the red skinned mutant got an agent to shoot one of his fellow agents. Raven let loose a sob as Lettie turned and hid her face in the closest chest. A comforting arm pulled her closer, then pushed her behind as a tornado in the opposite court yard threw an agents body through the window, shattering the glass. The tornado disappeared and was replaced by a long-haired but clean shaven man in a sharp grey suit.

The group was tensed, watching as the two mutants approached them from the opposite court yards, when they heated a panicked voice from outside the door.

"Look! You want the mutants? Fine! They're right through those doors! Please, Just let us normal people go! We d-" But the voice was cut off by a gunshot. Lettie was hurt. She thought the CIA agents liked them. She thought they were there to protect them. Not give them all up.

The door flew open and a man wearing a ridiculous looking helmet came through. "Where's the telepath?" He asked.

"Not here." The red skinned mutant informed him.

"Too bad. Well, at least I can take this silly thing off." The man removed his helmet before turning to address the mutants grouped on the other end of the room. "Good evening. My name is Sebastian Shaw and I'm not here to hurt you."

* * *

**Alright, well I'm pretty sure I said everything I need to say in the first note. But I am going to use this time to shamelessly promote my best friends blog. It's called .com. It's all about her weightloss. She's feeling kind of down because no one reads it. I told her it doesn't matter because she's getting her story out there, but she doesn't listen to me. No one ever listens to me.**  
**I hope you enjoyed the story!  
Good night loves.**

**xxx  
**

**Moe.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry about the length with this one, guys. There I was, just a typing away, I checked... 3,542 words. And I was no where near being done. So I figured I'd go ahead and post this, even though it ends kind of awkwardly. So here's for a long chapter. Woo! Also, thank you to my three reviewers x. and to the countless people who have 'followed' this story. it makes me feel like i'm not wasting my time. So let's get on to the story! x**

* * *

Lettie rolled her eyes and snorted. Yeah, these guys that just busted up at the headquarters and killed every CIA agent were _obviously_ harmless, she thought.

"Freeze!" A lone agent shouted from the court yard. Lettie mentally shook her head. The agent should have just ran.

Shaw seemed unaffected. "Azazel." Was all he said before the red mutant instantly appeared behind the agent and sliced him with his dagger like tail. 'Azazel' was back at Shaw's side in less than five seconds. Lettie sighed. She just wanted this night to be over.

"My... friends." Shaw spoke. Lettie raised an eyebrow. Friends? Shaw stepped closer to the mutants as he continued speaking. "There is a revolution coming where we must show mankind who we are. What we can do. Each of us will face a choice; be enslaved," Shaw's eyes flicked to Darwin. "Or rise up to rule. Choose freely but know that if you are not with us then, by definition, you are... against us." Shaw was speaking calmly and slowly, making eye contact with each of the mutants in the room. His calm attitude really angered Lettie. "So, you can stay and fight for the people who hate and fear you, or you can join me and live like kings." The man finished, then held his hand out to Angel and whispered, "And queens."

No one moved. The room was dead silent. Then Angel placed her hand in Shaw's and allowed him to lead her into the court yard, a smug look on his face.

"Angel." Raven whimpered.

"Are you kidding me?!" Sean exclaimed, shocked.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Lettie huffed.

Shaw and his group had gathered in a line in the court yard, holding hands. "Come on." Angel urged. "We don't belong here. And that's nothing to be ashamed of."

Darwin held his hand out in one last attempt, but Angel averted her eyes.

"Any last second takers?" Shaw asked.

Darwin turned and whispered something to Alex, who whispered something back and pushed him away.

"Wait!" Darwin yelled out to Shaw as he walked towards him. "I'm coming with you."

Lettie was shocked and hurt. Angel AND Darwin?! Alex pulled her close and whispered in her ear. "Get down when I say. Please, listen this time." Lettie just nodded and whispered to the others, using Darwin's conversation to cover their talking. The mutants spread out inside the room and just as Darwin grabbed onto Angels hand, he shielded her and shouted for Alex, who shouted, "NOW!"

Raven, Hank, Sean and Lettie quickly threw themselves to the ground as Alex swung his body around, throwing rings towards the offending mutants in the court yard. When the rings stopped shooting out of Alex, Lettie stood up and watched in shock as Shaw... absorbed the rings? Lettie glanced at Alex. He was shocked and she could tell he had no idea what to do.

"Protecting your fellow mutants. Feels good." Shaw smirked. Darwin stepped forward and tried to settle this NYC style, with a punch to the face, but he was quickly deflected by Shaw's hand, which seemed to have grown to 15 times its normal size. "Adapt to this." Shaw whispered as he pushed a ball of light into Darwin's mouth, then quickly transported out of the court yard along with the others. Lettie gasped as she watched Darwin's body attempt to adapt to the little ball of energy.

She whispered his name as she tried to bolt out of the windows to him, all the while trying to form some water to attempt to quell the battle inside of him. Alex came to his senses enough to grab her and pull her into him. Who knows what would happen if she got too close? Lettie fought weakly, still trying to focus all of her energy on to her powers, but the only water she managed to form was tears in her eyes.

Darwin extended his arm one last time, reaching for the only friends he had ever known even if only for a short while, before his body disintegrated in a flash of light. The others had gathered around and watched in disbelief. Tears streamed down Ravens face as well as Hanks. Sean was very green and squeamish looking, and Alex was just trying not to show any emotion. Lettie fell to the floor, exhausted from trying to use her powers and still crying. Alex went with her and just held her as she cried until she eventually fell asleep.

When Lettie woke several hours later, she was laying on a stone bench outside of the destroyed headquarters. Sean had her feet in his lap and her head was in Alex's. She opened her eyes slowly and saw that the sun hadn't quite risen, but it was working on it. It was going to be a grey morning, the skies already filled with watery clouds. She sat up, sighing, and looked at the destroyed building behind her. Hard to believe that only a few hours ago the building had been over taken, every CIA agent present was killed, and their rank had fallen by two. Angel had made her choice and, although she couldn't understand why she had chosen as she did, Lettie accepted that it wasn't her fault. Darwin on the other hand...

Maybe if Lettie hadn't been so frantic, maybe if she had been able to focus, maybe Darwin would still be here. He had died fighting for what was right, died trying to end this... war... before it truly started. Lettie only hoped that wherever he was, Darwin was being treated like a proper hero.

She laid her head in her hands as she thought about Darwin. She hadn't even known him for twelve hours, but she knew he was a great guy. That that they would have been close. He was just one of those guys that you **wanted** to trust. As for Angel, Lettie could understand why Shaw's speech, why the idea of being treated like a Queen enticed her so. She had grown up being an object. A sex object. Lettie could only imagine how that felt, and although she wished Angel had stayed, she couldn't resent her for her decision. And not for the last time, Lettie found herself missing her quaint apartment and safe shopkeeper job.

The mutants sat in silence as the watery sun rose and was hidden by the grey clouds, waiting for something to happen, for someone to come for them, until Raven finally spoke.

"How's everyone holding up?" She asked. A few of the mutants mumbled 'Fine' but nothing else was said. "Look, what happened was terrible. Nothing anyone says or does will change that. But look at us. We've not even known each other for a day and look at all we've been through. We've already become like a family. Darwin died protecting us, our family, as well as the rest. The non-mutants and mutants alike. I think it's obvious what he would want us to do. He would want us to keep fighting. To fight for him. I don't want you guys to give up. We've only just begun."

Lettie raised her head and smiled. Raven was trying so hard to keep the morale up. Not only was she trying, she was speaking the truth. Lettie vowed that she would get revenge for Darwin's death, no matter what it took. "You're right." She whispered. "And I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying here and fighting for Darwin."

"I'm in, too." Sean said from beside her. "It's not like I'm doing any good at home. I may as well stay here and have some purpose."

"I'm not going any where either." Hank added. "I'll fight with the family." Ravens smile could have lit the darkest of caves as every head turned to hear Alex's decision.

"I'm not going anywhere. The only place I have to go back to is prison. I've got to learn how to control my powers. I'll fight for Darwin. Show him how sorry I am that my powers killed him."

Ravens smile fell at his last comment. Lettie was in chock. Alex was blaming himself for Darwin's death. As she opened her mouth to argue, a car came flying into view and screeched to a halt directly in front of the mutants. Charles came bounding out, immediately calling for Raven, who rushed into his open arms.

"I'll make arrangements for you to be taken home immediately." Charles informed the group as Erik and the brunette from earlier, who looked sympathetic and heartbroken instead of angry this time, gathered behind him.

"We're not going home." Sean deadpanned. He gestured to Alex. "And he's not going back to prison.

Lettie tightened the grip of the hand she had comfortingly placed on Alex's arm. "He killed Darwin!" Alex pointed out.

"All the more reason for you to leave!" Charles wasn't budging. "This is over."

"Darwin is DEAD, Charles." Raven showed her agreement with the others.

"He's gone. Died. For us. For the cause." Lettie added.

"And we can't even bury him." Hank spoke.

"We can avenge him." Erik spoke for the first time.

"Erik, a work please." Charles demanded softly as he walked away. As the two men conversed, the brunette walked over to the group of defiant mutants.

"I'm sorry we met like we did earlier. I'm Agent Moira McTaggert. I'm working with Charles." The mutants went around and said their names.

"Are you a mutant?" Lettie asked.

Moira chucked softly. "Oh, no. Just mutant friendly."

Charles and Erik returned to the group. "We'll have to train." Charles told them. "Understand?"

The mutants all agreed, excited, until Hank pointed out a vital downfall.

"We have no where to go." Lettie's rising spirits quickly fell again. Where could you safely hide seven mutants and a CIA agent while they trained for a war?

"Yes, we do." Charles informed him confidently. "Gather your bags, we've got a drive ahead of us."

Lettie thought about her belongings, all that she had left of home, then she thought about the dead agents everywhere. She wasn't sure it was worth it. She noticed the others hesitation at running back into the building, also.

"On second thought, everyone pile into on of the Army caravans over there. I'll get your bags." Charles retracted.

Lettie realized he must have read everyone's mind, but she was too grateful to be angry as she trudged with the others to a large caravan. Between the seven mutants and Moira, there were just enough seats in the vehicle. Alex crawled into the very back seat followed by Lettie and Sean. Hank, Raven, and Moira sat in the middle, leaving the front for Charles and Erik who soon arrived with everyone's belongings.

The caravan was filled with the sounds of everyone trying to get comfortable.

"Everyone ready?" Charles asked from the drivers seat.

"Can we just get there, please?" Erik asked. Lettie couldn't understand why he was so ready to get there. He had an entire front seat to himself instead of being squashed between two mutants in the back.

"On we go." Charles nodded obligingly. The car was filled with a slight silence as the caravan left the destroyed Division X in the rear view mirror and began the journey to wherever Charles was taking them.

"Erm, Charles?" Lettie asked from the very back. "How far are we going? And where?"

"It'll take around six hours, I'd guess. And we're going home. To mine – and Raven's – childhood home."

There was a collective groan at being stuck in the caravan for six hours, but Lettie had to admit she was excited to see where Charles grew up. She had to imagine that it was somewhere great, seeing how well put together and 'posh' Charles and Raven both were. And Raven had mentioned something about maids. And the fact that Charles' mother never even knew she was living there.

"How about some music then, Charles? Six hours is a long time." Moira spoke. Charles flipped on the tuner and found a decent enough station. Lettie laid her head back, listening to the music, and was soon surrounded by the sound of sleep all around the car. Looking up, she saw that, in fact, everyone but Charles had nodded off. The night had been an exhausting one, and it seemed that she was the only one who had slept at all. Looking to her left, Lettie saw Alex sleeping with a troubled expression on his face. He was twitching slightly and his eyebrows furrowed, as if in a nightmare. Nudging him awake softly, he jolted to consciousness and looked at her questioningly.

"You looked like you were having a bad dream." She spoke softly, not to be heard over the music.

"It wasn't pleasant." He mumbled equally as quietly.

"Talk to me?" She asked.

"About what?" He was giving her his full attention.

"What you said at the base. You don't blame yourself for what happened, do you?" She asked, nervously.

"Can we not?" He replied shortly.

"Alex, you can't blame yourself. You didn't know what was going to happen. You did what he wanted. You did the right thing. Did you see everything that his body was adapting in to? That wasn't just your... whatever you call it. There was so much more. You might not want to talk about it, but you have to. You can't keep it inside, and you can't let what happened stay on your chest forever. It'll only hinder everything, your progress, your thinking, your health."

"Every time I use my powers, something bad happens." Alex replied gruffly.

"That's not true. The first time you showed all of us, nothing bad happened. Unless you consider the statue being sliced in half and really, it was quite comical. Your powers are not bad, and neither are you. Charles is going to help all of us, including you. You can't be afraid of your powers."

"That's easy for you to say. What can you do, drown someone? You can't even get yours to work all the time. Me, they just burst out of me. I can't always stop it. I've killed three people now. Three."

Lettie was taken back by his comment. _What can you do, drown someone?_ Did he think she was weak? That her powers were no big deal. What if she did drown someone? She didn't know the full extent of her powers, didn't know just how strong they were and what she was capable of. But his pity party was really irking her.

"Fine, whatever. I'm sorry I can't sympathise with you because all I can do is _drown people_. I'm sorry my powers aren't bad ass enough for me to help you." She said as she turned back to face the front, rested her head against the back of the seat and closed her eyes.

"Lettie, that's not what I meant. I'm just afraid of my powers. I'm not downing yours in any way. And honestly, yours are probably stronger than mine. Water puts out fire, remember? I- I'm sorry." He sounded sincerely apologetic. When she didn't acknowledge him, he grabbed her face lightly and made her look at him, but she still wouldn't open her eyes. "Damn it, Lettie, would you look at me?"

She snapped her eyes open, "What?"

"I'm sorry. Okay? I really am. I haven't had anyone that I could talk to in a long time. I didn't mean to come off that way. Please, don't start ignoring me now because of one comment. I say the wrong things a lot. But I can talk to you. I haven't had this in a long time. It's nice."

"Whatever, Summers. Apology accepted. Just go back to sleep." Lettie said with a playful tone. She had gotten over her hurt at his comment quickly. She, too, said things she didn't mean that way. He let go of her face and leaned back up against the window with a smile on his face.

"Thank you." He whispered quietly. Lettie grabbed his leg in reassurance and laid back once more. When she awoke several hours later, her head was up against Sean's shoulder, his arm pulling her tight, and he was snoring in her ears. When she tried to pull away, he pulled her in tighter. She tried harder, he pulled tighter. She heard Alex sniggering in the seat beside her and turned her head to stick out her tongue.

Sean, still unconscious, would not let her go. Lettie decided that a little prank wouldn't hurt. She willed herself to scrounge up just a little water and put it on Sean in a... suggestive area. It looked as though he had wet himself in his sleep. Laughing, Lettie finally managed to wiggle out of his grasp and quickly scooted closer to Alex to avoid being dragged back in.

"You're evil, you know that?" He whispered in her ears.

"Evil. It's my middle name." Lettie joked lamely. Raven and Hank, who had woken up some time previously, turned.

"What are you two whispering about back there?" Raven asked suspiciously.

"Sean wouldn't let me go. So I played a tiny prank on him." Lettie laughed quietly.

"Wha-" Raven noticed where Lettie was pointing and instantly bust out laughing. "Girl, you are too much."

Hank shook his head, also laughing. "Remind me never to cross you."

Their laughter set off Alex and Lettie, which caused Moira and Sean to both be awoken from their sleep.

"Why are you guys being so loud?" Sean mumbled, still mostly asleep.

"Have a little accident?" Lettie asked, still laughing.

"What?" Sean asked, now more alert. He looked at Lettie, who was laughing into Alex's shoulder, then looked down and saw the wet spot. "Emm... What.. I didn't. I don't know what... I swear I just..." He had turned a scary shade of red, causing the other mutants to laugh even harder. Lettie took pity and finally stopped laughing long enough to tell him,

"Relax. You had me stuck in a head lock when I woke up so I played a little prank. I'm sorry. We know you didn't wet yourself." Then she continued laughing.

Sean laughed nervously. "Haha. Very funny. I was a bit disgusted with myself for a minute." Then he joined in the heavy laughing with the rest of the group.

"Hey Charles?" He called out when he'd stopped laughing so much.

"Yes, Sean?"

"Are we there yet?"

Charles chuckled. "Not quite. Ready for a pit stop? We've still got about two hours or so left of our ride."

"A pit stop would be lovely." Raven and Lettie exclaimed simultaneously, both needing to relieve themselves as well as stretch their legs.

"I'll pull over at the next gas station." Charles promised.

Ten minutes later, the caravan was stopped at a station and the mutants and Moira piled out, glad to be able to get out of their cramped positions. Charles began filling the car with gas and informed them mutants, "Don't take too long. Don't cause any trouble. Hurry back."

After promising to be on their best behaviour, they took off into the store. Lettie and Raven made a B-line to the restrooms while guys walked around aimlessly.

"So, you and Alex, huh?" Raven started.

"What are you talking about?" Lettie asked, honestly confused.

"I heard you two whispering back there, before you fell asleep. And last night, he held you the entire night. Even when we were outside, he just held you. It wasn't until he started falling asleep and became in danger of dropping you that we convinced him to put you on the bench." She informed the shocked mutant.

"Alex and I are just friends." Lettie promised. "We've bonded, yes. But we're just friends. We've only met yesterday. I like Alex, he's a cool guy. But that's it. I don't trust people very often, but I trust all of you. It's weird, actually. I've never just trusted people before. Normally it takes a while to form any kind of bond. I guess when you've gone through what all we've gone through, it's hard not to trust though." She was talking more to herself than to Raven at this point.

"Don't change the subject. I don't care if you just met yesterday, I've seen the way you two look at each other. And the way you talk to each other. I bet you two will be together by the end of this... whatever you want to call it." Raven smirked.

"I'll take you up on that bet." The girls shook on it.

* * *

**Like I said up there, sorry for the long chapter. I'll try and keep the others at least a bit shorter than this. Hope you guys enjoyed it. I watched an interview with Lucas Till earlier and he said that he tried to put how he would feel, unhappy about being so dangerous, guilty about killing the people, like a sensitive guy with emotions, so I don't feel so bad about the emotions that I'm making him have in this story. So... yeah. Thanks for reading, loves. **

**xx  
M  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**I kept this one quite a bit shorter than my last, but on the downside, it's really just a filler. Not much happens in this chapter, but I suppose that all stories have these. Hopefully there won't be many of them. I'm so hungry right now I could eat a hippogriff.**

* * *

After the girls quickly handled their business, they left the restrooms and walked out into the store to see the guys all fawning over the pretty gas station attendant. For some reason, this angered Lettie.

"If you guys are ready to put your tongues back in your mouths, I'm sure Charles, Erik and Moira are ready to go now." She said as she walked by, not looking at any of the guys in the eyes. Raven followed after her but not before adding,

"Seriously, you guys look like dogs with your tongues hanging down so far. Be careful, you might trip over them."

When she caught up to Lettie, she laughed. "Jealous, much?"

"I'm not jealous! I just can't stand when guys fawn over girls like that. Just because she's skinny and pretty, guys stare. Maybe if I was a size 2 guys would stare at me like that, and maybe I would like it. But I hate it when guys stare at me now."

"You are just-"

"Drop it." Lettie said, noticing the guys quickly followed them out of the gas station and were now heading over to the car.

"Alright, is everyone ready? We're closer than we were when we started out." He tried to sound optimistic about the fact that they were getting back in the car for at least two more hours. Everyone piled back in the car in the same seats they were in before and they were off.

For twenty minutes, the mutants took turns playing I-Spy, but quickly grew tired when all they really could see for miles and miles was blue skies, grey road and green trees. There were very few cars on the road where they were, so they couldn't play the State Tag Game, and there were even fewer signs, so the Alphabet Game was out of the question. The only thing they could really do was sleep, so they did.

"Just sleep one more time and we should be there when you awaken." Charles promised from the drivers seat.

Lettie laid her head back and was almost asleep when the thought of being trapped by Sean once more suddenly forced her into an upright position.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alex asked beside her.

"I'm not sleeping." Lettie answered simply.

"And why not?"

"Because," Lettie glanced at Sean's already snoring figure and chuckled. "He might suck me in again."

Alex chuckled and glanced at Sean, then threw his arm out. "Come on. I won't strangle you, trap you, or snore in your ear."

"Promise?"

"Pinky promise." Lettie laughed and gently laid against Alex's chest. His rhythmic breathing soon slowed, and she could tell he was asleep, but she couldn't go there just yet. This was insane. She had literally met him yesterday. What the hell was she doing, laying in his arms? Forming bonds? Trusting him? This was so unlike her. Lettie shook these thoughts from her mind and decided to save them for when she was alone. She was asleep quicker than you can say Irish Wristwatch.

"Are we there yet?" Sean's voice broke Lettie from her dreamless sleep.

"Sean, if you ask that one more time I swear I'm going t-" Erik began but was cut off by Charles.

"No, Sean. We're not there yet. We weren't there two minutes ago, and we won't be there two minutes from now. Now please, just enjoy the ride." Charles smirked from the drivers seat.

"Seriously, Sean. That's the fifth time you've asked since you woke up. 20 minutes ago." Alex grumbled. Lettie, who hadn't yet let it know that she was awake, could feel the vibrations from him talking. "You're going to wake Lettie if you don't shut up."

"Too late." Lettie groaned into Alex's chest. "Sean, you're really annoying." She laughed.

"Well I'm sorry that I want to get out of this damn car." He retorted.

"Time would pass quicker if you'd shut up."

"How would that make time pass quicker? Then we'd just be sitting in silence. At least if I keep talking, there's something going on AND we're entertained."

"Actually, if you hadn't've been talking, I would still be asleep right now, so time would have passed faster. Go to sleep."

"I can't sleep anymore. I've been sleeping for six hours now."

"Want me to make you sleep?"

"No! No, I'm good."

"Good. Then stop talking."

"Okay, sorry. I'll shut up now. I'm sorry for trying to make conversation."

"Sean, seriously."

"What's wrong with conversation?"

"Sean."

"Just ask one question a couple of times, and next thing you know-"

Lettie shot up from her position on Alex's chest, his arm sliding off of her shoulders. "Seriously, Sean? Let's play the quiet game. The next person that talks has to sleep outside tonight. Deal? Ready, go."

The others in the car laughed at Lettie's way of ending the playful argument. Sean winked at her and Lettie playfully slapped his arm and shook her head. Turning to Alex, she raised her eyebrows, silently asking if her sleep position was still open. He smirked and raised his arm up, allowing her to fall back into his chest and quickly fall asleep.

Not even twenty minutes later, Lettie awoke to the car coming to a stop. "We're here." Charles announced.

"HA! Charles has to sleep outside tonight!" Sean joked from the seat beside Lettie, who just rolled her eyes. When she looked out onto the grounds, her breath was taken away. The grounds themselves were extensive. All she could see was rolling grassy hills that let to the surrounding forest. Very private. Somewhere that they wouldn't be seen. The house was more of a castle. It was huge and beautiful, three stories above ground, and there were all sorts of tower things poking out of the roof. The windows themselves were beautiful, ancient looking. Damn. This house was niiiiice.

As Lettie was finally able to crawl out of the caravan following Sean, the grounds seem to get even bigger and more impressive.

"This is yours?" Lettie asked in disbelief.

"No." Charles spoke. "It's ours." Lettie could hear the smile in his voice.

"I don't know how you survived all those years, living in such hardship." Erik spoke sarcastically.

"Well, it was a hardship softened by me." Raven smiled as she walked up to the front of the group to stand by Charles, who pulled her in for a hug and kissed her temple. "Come on, it's time for the tour."

The group followed Raven and Charles into the huge mansion. The foyer itself was amazing. It alone was 10 times the apartment Lettie shared with her mom back in Maine. After a quick walk through of the more important rooms like the kitchen, living rooms (yes plural, as in more than one), dining room, bathrooms, the second floor which consisted of the library, Charles' study and bedroom, and mostly empty unused rooms that Charles told Hank he could turn into a lab, they went back outside and retrieved their luggage. Charles, Erik and Moira stayed down in the kitchen to begin pulling together a lunch while Raven took them to the third floor.

"The third floor is where all the bedrooms are besides Charles'. I'm not sure why they had so many rooms in this house, and neither is Charles. It was only ever him, his mom and his dad living here at one time. It works out perfectly though, we'll each have our own room." She informed the mutants. She walked and stood in front of the room on the far corner of the corridor. "This one's mine. Lettie, you get the one across from me. It has the best view. The rest of you, fight it out for your own rooms. Each of the rooms has a bathroom and a closet big enough to fit a couple of cars." Lettie dragged her luggage over to the room Raven had designated as hers and threw open the door. The room was stunning. The walls were a tan color and the style itself was a Venetian type sanctuary.

"Holy shit." She whispered as she walked in to **her** bedroom and put her suitcase on the bed. "You've got to be fucking kidding me. People actually live like this?" She questioned herself.

"Yeah, it's a bit extravagant, isn't it?" Raven asked from the doorway. Lettie jumped, not realizing that she had been standing there.

"It's beautiful. This bedroom is twice the size of my entire apartment with my mom." Lettie laughed.

"Have you looked at the view?" Raven asked. When Lettie shook her head, Raven directed her to one of eight windows covering the wall. "This one has the best. Look."

Lettie pulled back the thick curtains and just stared. She could see the green hills rolling out for miles to the left back of the house, and directly in front of her was the extensive forest she had noted surrounding the house.

"There's a pond back there." Raven told her. "We're going tonight." Lettie just nodded her head in agreement. When she turned around, Raven was just standing by the huge four poster bed. "Let's unpack your stuff then go check on the guys."

"I didn't bring much." Lettie told her. "Just a few things." She and Raven talked and laughed while folding the clothes and putting them in the drawers. Lettie's heart dropped when she got to the perfume that she had taken off her moms dresser. She fingered it lightly then placed in on the table beside her bed along with her Hobbit book and the few pictures she had brought.

"Ready?" Raven asked softly as she placed the now empty suitcase in the closet. "Or do you need a few minutes?"

"No, no. I'm ready now." Lettie smiled up at her, looking around her huge new room one last time before following her to look at who had gotten which room. In the room right beside Lettie's, they found Sean laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"All settled in, Sean?" Raven asked.

"Yep. This house is amazing."

"It is, isn't it? We're about to go down and get some lunch, if you want to join us." Lettie told him.

"Yeah, I'll be down in a few minutes." He told the girls before they left the room and shut the door behind him. Directly across from Sean's door, and right down the hall from Raven's, they ran in to Hank as he was walking out of the room.

"Y'alright, Hank?" Lettie asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. I was just going to go look at those rooms that Charles said I could use as a lab." He sounded excited.

"Well, when you get done down there, come down to the kitchen for food!" Raven yelled down the hallway after him. He shook his hand in the air in acknowledgment and continued his determined stride.

Alex had claimed the room on the other side of Sean's. Knocking the door, the girls walked in and saw him just sitting on the bed, perched up against the headboard.

"You've got everything unpacked?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, all done. Didn't really have that much anyways. They don't let you keep much when you're in prison, ya know?"

"That's true." Raven noted. "I guess we'll just have to go shopping later. Can't have you not having clothes!"

"That's really not necessa-" He began to object, but Raven cut him off.

"Lunch, now! Let's go to the kitchens, see what they've gotten done!" And she walked out of the room as if she hadn't heard him try to object. Lettie went to go follow her, but paused at the door.

"You comin'?" She asked Alex softly.

"Yeah, I'm starved." He said getting off of the bed. "This house is insane."

"I know. I can't grasp it. I find it hard to believe that people actually _live_ like this." They passed Charles, who was leading Moira and Erik up to their rooms which were farther down the hallway from the mutants. There were two empty bedrooms between Erik and Hank's and one empty bedroom between Moira and Alex's.

"Oh, hello you two. I met Raven on the way up, she's gone down to the kitchen and said you would all be following. We've sat out some food, but please, help yourself. This is your house, too."

"Thank you, Charles." Lettie said deeply. She hoped he understood that that thank you was for more than just the food, but for everything that he had done for the group of mutants, which was a lot already. "Could I use your phone?" She asked, wanting to call and let her mom know that she was okay.

"Of course. Raven will show you where it is, love."

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed it. I'm really enjoying writing this story. It's loads of fun. I find myself wanting to write another Race to Witch Mountain story, but I'm worried it'll end up too similar to Painting Flowers and Tonight, I Love You. I just really love Seth. Ah well.  
**

**xx  
M  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**First of all, HOLY FEELS. Starlight Warrior 1092. Thank you, so much. Any review is nice, but having a long review with actual thoughts/questions/suggestions is so amazing. And a review for every single chapter? Blew my mind. I've worked two straight doubles, so when I get off work tonight and check my page, seeing that just totally made my life. There's so much that I don't even know where to begin as far as questions and such. I just... You're you to all my reviewers (not that there are many of you, but whatevs) of course. You're all awesome (8. This chapter is really setting up next chapter. A bit goes on. Life goes on. Enjoy.**

* * *

"I know. I can't grasp it. I find it hard to believe that people actually _live_ like this." They passed Charles, who was leading Moira and Erik up to their rooms which were farther down the hallway from the mutants. There were two empty bedrooms between Erik and Hank's and one empty bedroom between Moira and Alex's.

"Oh, hello you two. I met Raven on the way up, she's gone down to the kitchen and said you would all be following. We've sat out some food, but please, help yourself. This is your house, too."

"Thank you, Charles." Lettie said deeply. She hoped he understood that that thank you was for more than just the food, but for everything that he had done for the group of mutants, which was a lot already. "Could I use your phone?" She asked, wanting to call and let her mom know that she was okay.

"Of course. Raven will show you where it is, love."

After making their way down the two flights of stairs, Lettie and Alex had a difficult time finding the kitchen. They kept ending up in the second living room.

"Where the hell are we?!" Lettie exclaimed. She was really hungry and really wanted to call her mom.

"I just don't understand how we keep ending up in _this_ room. I haven't even seen the stairs again." Alex remarked.

"Fuck it." Lettie decided. "HEY! GUYS! WE'RE LOST! COME FIND US! IT'S LIKE HIDE AND SEEK, EXCEPT WE _WANT_ TO BE FOUND! FIRST PERSON TO FIND US AND GET US TO THE DAMN KITCHEN GETS TO... UH... KICK SEAN!"

Alex, who had been staring at her like she was crazy up to this point, bust out laughing. "You're insane."

"I'm hungry." She deadpanned. "SERIOUSLY, GUYS. HOW THE HELL DO WE GET OUT OF THIS MAZE?! I REQUEST A MAP! WE'RE IN ONE OF THE LIVING RO-"

Charles walked calmly through the doors. "Really, love, it's not that hard. Follow me."

A few short minutes later, they had reached the kitchen. Raven and Sean were laughing hysterically at the island, surrounded by food.

"I'm going to draw you up a map." Raven choked up between laughs.

"Why didn't you come for me?!" Lettie feigned hurt. "Some friend you are!" Raven held her hand up in mock defeat.

"I figured you'd find your way eventually."

Alex had already loaded up a plate of food and was stuffing his face. Lettie grabbed a plate and loaded it up with a sandwich and some crisps and grabbed a bottle of soda. Light conversations were carried on throughout the lunch as Moira, Erik and Hank came and joined them.

"So rest up today. Explore, sleep, rest, then tomorrow, we start training full force." Charles informed them.

"How are we going to train?" Lettie asked through a mouth full of food.

"First, I want to work with you all individually. Help strengthen your powers. We're having lab equipment brought in tonight so Hank can run blood tests, see if we can learn anything about your mutations. Once we've trained individually, I want us to train as a whole. Find out what combinations can pack the most force. Don't misunderstand me, we must all work together as a unified whole, but certain mutations will aide together in success." The mutants nodded their heads in understanding. "Erik, Moira and I are going to town for a bit to gather some necessities. We'll be back later this afternoon." He informed the mutants as the three mentioned adults stood from the island. "Please try not to destroy the house, yes?"

"We'll be on our best behaviour, Charles." Sean promised, though he sounded more mischievous than reassuring.

"I'm sure you will." Charles said with a smirk as he, Moira, and Erik left the room.

"Hey, Raven? Can you show me the phone?" Lettie asked as she finished off her crisps and put her dishes away.

"Sure thing, girl. It's in the West Room." The West Room ended up being the second living room that she and Alex kept ending up in. _Are you kidding me?! _Lettie thought to her self. Out loud, though, she said,

"You might not want to go far. I'm sure I'll need someone to help me find my way out."

"I'll stay within earshot. Though earshot is pretty far for you, apparently. Charles heard you screaming all the way from the second floor." Raven laughed as she pointed her to the phone. "Just yell when you're ready."

"Thanks." Lettie answered as she walked to the phone. She quickly picked up the reciever and dialed her mothers phone number. She breathed deeply as the phone rang, preparing herself for what was about to happen.

"Hello?" Relief washed over Lettie as she heard her moms voice. She hadn't even realized that she had been worried, but now that she knew her mom was okay, all she could think was _Thank God_.

"Hello?" Her mom repeated.

"Ma?"

"LETTIE?! Where are you?! I can't believe you just left like that!" Her mom yelled, yet remained soft.

"Ma, I'm so sorry. I know that note wasn't much reassurance, but I just.. I had to find out what was out here. I'm so sorry I left you, and I've thought about you non-stop. I hope you don't hate me." Lettie hadn't realized that she was crying until she felt the tears run down her cheek and drip off of her chin.

"Child, I could never hate you. I was just so worried when I saw your note. I wasn't sure if it was actually what you wanted or if someone had forced you to write it."

"No, I made this choice willingly. There are others like me, ma. Shape-shifters and mind-readers. Metal-benders and adapters. I'm not alone. Charles is so nice, ma. He's going to teach me how to control my powers, so I can be in charge of them."

"I'm happy for you, I really am. I just... wish I'd been prepared."

"Trust me, it came out of nowhere for me, too. They came in to the shop that night, late. Around nine or so. We left a little while later."

"Just be careful, okay? I don't want anything to happen to you."

Lettie didn't respond as she thought about everything that Charles and Shaw had said. War. Revolution. Darwin dying. Angel choosing sides. Allies and combining powers. How could she promise her mom to stay safe if she was about to be fighting in a war?

"I miss you, mom."

"I miss you too, Let. I miss our nightly tea. It's lonely here without you."

"I'll be home as soon as I can. As soon as everything's over."

"Everything? What's everything?"

"Training, ma. As soon as I've trained enough, I'll come home. Maybe I can come visit before then." Lettie's heart sank as she realized she might be lying to her mom. She might not make it home. Darwin wouldn't. You can't have a war without casualties. Her crying got harder and harder.

"Breath, child. Breath. I'll see you soon enough. I've got to go now. They switched me to mid shifts. Call me anytime you want. And even if you don't want, at least check in every now and then. I suppose I knew this would happen someday. I'd just hoped I would be more forewarned."

"I love you, ma."

"I love you too, baby."

Lettie hung up the receiver and allowed the sobs she had been containing rack her body. She missed her mom. She was always so understanding. _I could never hate you_, she had said. If Lettie had told her that she had just enlisted in a mutant war, she might change her mind. _Breath, child._ That's what her mom always told her when she got worked up over stuff, which happened a bit. _Breath, child._ That's what she had to do. Just breathe. She would get home to her mom. Even if it killed her.

With a new determination to completely control her mutation, Lettie calmed her breathing, wiped her tears away, fixed her hair and stood. She didn't want to be alone anymore.

"RAVEEEEEEN!" She yelled. Almost instantly, Raven walked through the door.

"Geez, there's no need to yell! I'm right here." Raven laughed. "You alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." Lettie told her as she walked over to Raven, who shocked her by throwing her arms around her shoulders.

"Everything's gonna be fine." She promised her quietly.

"How much did you hear?"

Raven hesitated, as though debating what to say. "Well, all of it. I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have eavesdropped. I just... Couldn't help myself."

"It's alright, Raven. Let's just get back."

Upon arriving in the kitchen, they found Hank was no where to be seen and Sean and Alex were both still stuffing their faces. "Seriously, guys? You're _still _eating?! Where are you putting everything?" Lettie exclaimed.

"I'm hungry." Sean answered simply. Raven rolled her eyes.

"Where's Hank?"

"He went back to the rooms Erik said he could use as a lab. Said he'll find us later."

"Well, we're going to get him because we're going outside. I wanna show you guys something." Raven informed the group as she left the room, supposedly in search of Hank. Lettie walked to sit at the island by Sean, stealing a crisp in the process.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sean exclaimed, feigning anger.

"Stealing you're crisp. Whaddaya gonna do 'bout it, big boy?" Lettie returned.

"Pout." Sean crossed his arms over his chest and stuck out his bottom lip."I can't believe you'd steal my food."

"Oooh, the poor baby." Lettie laughed, sticking her tongue out, which Sean returned.

Alex shook his head, "You guys are like five year olds."

"Oh, I'm sorry we're not all serious and mature, Mr. Serious and Mature!" Lettie joked. Alex just shook his head once more and continued to stuff his face.

"Being serious and mature isn't always a bad thing."

"It is if you're a fun-sucker! And that's what you are. A fun-sucker!"

Alex didn't reply, just rolled his eyes. Raven chose this time to enter the room, dragging a reluctant looking Hank by the wrist.

"Alright, guys. Enough food for now. It'll still be here when we come back. You might want to go put on some shoes and jackets, though." As a group, the three mutants stood and went to their rooms silently to do as Raven suggested. Lettie threw on a light jacket and some runners. She wasn't sure what they'd be doing, but if it was outside then runners were probably necessary. She met Alex as they walked out of their rooms at the same time. They waited for Sean outside of his door, and went down to meet Raven and Hank as a group.

"Alright, hope you guys don't mind the woods." She told them as she led them out the front door and across the grounds. When they got to the edge of the woods, she pointed out, "This is where Lettie, Sean and Alex's windows look out too." The woods were old. Old and overrun. Branches lay on the ground, roots and branches and limbs covered the ground, so making their way through the woods took time, but they eventually made it to a pathway that appeared out of no where.

"Where the hell are we going, Raven?" Lettie asked.

"Just wait for it." She replied. Lettie huffed and kept trudging. Even though there was a path, there were still many roots and limbs covering it. It obviously wasn't a path taken very often. They weren't walking for too long once they got on the path before Raven sped up, eventually turning into a run.

"We're almost there! Hurry!"

The group chased behind her, until she finally came to a halt at an opening in the trees. When the group caught up to her, there was a collective gasp. There was a waterfall basin surrounded by rocks that were flat and perfect for laying on.

"Rave! It's beautiful! How did you find this?"

"Charles and I spent most of our childhood exploring these woods. This was my favorite place. I used to come here all the time and just... relax. Not that my life was very difficult, but it's just a great place to sit and think. The only person that knows about it is Charles. But I thought it'd be nice to share it with you guys. The water is always perfect in the summer time." She said with a longing sigh, remembering all the summer days she spent here, with and without Charles.

"You think it's cold now?" Sean asked.

"I think it's freezing now." Raven said in her 'duh' voice. She made her way smoothly across the rocky terrain and sat in a spot right near the waterfall. "You guys coming?"

The rest of the mutants made their way over to where Raven was sat, though they took a bit longer to navigate the ground. Finally making it to her, they sat in a circle and watched the water fall off the rocks. The birds were filling the air with beautiful music that could only just be heard over the slight roar of the water.

"Hey, Lettie. You control water. Think you could heat this up so we can go for a swim?" Hank asked her.

"Hmm." Lettie had never thought of heating water before. "I've never tried. But it's a possibility. We'd need someone to be in the water to tell if it's working or not though." Every head immediately turned to Sean, who held his hands up in defense.

"Why me?!" He exclaimed.

"You just seem the most likely to jump in freezing water." Alex pointed out.

"Well... Yeah... I'm not going alone!" He said.

"Look, you get in the water. Let Lettie try and warm it up. If it works, we'll follow you." Raven reasoned with him.

"And if it doesn't work?" He asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Lettie laughed, knowing that there was no way she was jumping in freezing cold water.

Sean thought about this for a minute and stood up. Making his way carefully down the rocks, he stuck his hand in. "There. I can feel it. Holy- Hurry up. This water is freezing."

Lettie closed her eyes. "Don't talk for a bit, okay?" She assumed everyone nodded their agreement because she heard no objections. She willed and willed, she felt the pull in her stomach start to grow. This time though, instead of getting it to move, she willed it to become warm. Hot even. Not freezing. The pull in her stomach grew more and more. Lettie fought an internal battle with herself and the water. Her mutation was willing it to listen to her, and the water was revolting. She huffed as she tried to imagine swimming in nice, warm water. Squeezed her eyes harder as she demanded the water become warm. All but pitched an outright hissy fit. The pull in her stomach had begun to be painful. _One more tug_ she told herself. She'd never pushed her powers this far. Never gotten past the first bit of pain. She forced every bit of energy she had into warming the water. Instead, she was instantly soaked, as well as the other mutants.

Her eyes flew open and she took in four soaking wet and shocked looking mutants.

"What the hell happened?" She demanded, gasping and weak.

"The water went funny." Raven told her.

"Then it fucking exploded." Sean finished.

"Exploded how?" She asked.

"You know when you have a puddle and you step in it and the water goes everywhere?" Alex explained. Lettie nodded her head. "Like that. It was like a giant foot stepped into the pond and threw water everywhere."

"What did you feel, Lettie?" Hank asked.

"Can we save that for later? I'm freezing." Raven complained.

"I'm exhausted. I pushed myself too far. But I can still try and... Just hang on." Lettie closed her eyes and willed all the water off of the soaking wet mutants just like she had done dozens of times. But it felt different this time. Weird. She opened her eyes and saw that nothing had changed. The group was as wet as ever.

"It didn't work?" She asked, more to herself than anything. "Do mutations have a breaking point? Did I push it too far? Am I broken?"

* * *

**DUNDUNDUUUUUUUUUN.**

**Did Lettie break herself? Forreals? Like, OMG that was my favourite character! How DARE she break herself. Ungrateful little.  
**

**Yeah. I'm going to sleep now. Good night from America, loves!**

**xMoe moe moe moe fe fi fo fo me mi mo mo MOOOOOE  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**Is this chapter short? Yes. Has it taken me an eternity to get this chapter out? Yes. Does this chapter contain anything of much importance? No. Am I a horrible person who has been severely distracted with moving, getting a new job, having my dog die AND the fact that The Hobbit exists? Yes. I am sorry. If there are any readers out there that have stuck around, I truly am. I'll be honest, I have to thank TimTab96 for this chapter, or even the fact that I remembered this story. Your PM is the reason that this chapter (if you want to call it that) is here. Also a MAJOR thank you to the wonderful Starlight Warrior 1092. You're amazing, babe. END OF STORY. Now enough rambling, because believe me, I could ramble all night if I was left to.**

* * *

Lettie sat silently wondering if it was possible to push her mutation past its limit while the others sat in a group a bit off. They had asked her to join them, but she declined, saying she just needed to think for a while.

What would Charles say? Would he tell her she's beyond repair? Would he say that she's helpless? Blame her for trying to do too much too quickly? There was always the chance that it was just a fluke, that there was nothing wrong with her powers. But she had never... What even happened? She couldn't grasp it.

"Lettie?" Raven spoke softly as she knelt down beside the curled up girl. "Lettie, we're going back to the house. If we stay out here for too long, we'll get sick and Charles will kill us. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright." Lettie lied as she picked herself up off the ground. "I'm just... thinking. Do you think Charles will be back yet? I need to talk to him."

"Maybe. We've been gone for a while. But he'll be back soon if he's not already. You can talk to me until we can talk to him if you want?" Raven offered as they began walking. She signaled for the group to go in front of them.

"We don't know where we're going!" Sean reminded her.

"Oh, right." She huffed. "You can still talk to me. They can walk farther behind us if you don't want them hearing?"

"No, it's okay." Lettie said as they caught up to the group, who fell behind them as they started walking the path. "I'm just.. what if I broke my mutation?"

"Broke your mutation?" Hank asked.

"It didn't work. First, the water _exploded_.. Then, I couldn't even dry you guys off. My mutation didn't work." Lettie said exasperatedly.

"You didn't break your mutation, girl. It just... Didn't work."

"That's never happened to me before!' Lettie yelled out in frustration. "It's never just _not_ worked unless I was trying something new! I can understand it not warming the water, I've never tried that before. But to make it explode? And I dry stuff off all the time! It just... didn't work."

"I'm sure it was nothing to do with your mutation itself." Alex tried to reassure her.

"Yeah, maybe you just wore it out, trying so hard to heat the water." Sean added.

"So my mutation is just _tired_?!" Lettie was just getting more aggravated.

"Actually," Hank spoke. "It's possible. If you tried so hard to stretch your mutation out, it's possible that it just... needed to re-energize. Have you ever worked out so hard that your body was just... done? Like, the next day you couldn't even walk up the stairs your legs hurt so bad?"

"Well, yeah. But-"

"Think of your mutation as your body. Every time you use it, it gets stronger and can endure more and more. But sometimes you over work it and it has to rest."

"But what if it's a permanent rest? What if Charles can't fix me? What if he sends me home?"

"He's not going to send you home, Lettie. I promise. You just need to relax, rest your powers, and explain to him what happened. Maybe he knows. But I'm sure Hank is right. He's a genius, remember?" Raven smiled comfortingly. Lettie just huffed. Maybe they're right. But maybe they're wrong.

The walk back to the mansion seemed to take three times as long as the walk to the surprise did. The entire time, Raven, Hank, Sean and Alex kept up a conversation, asking Lettie for her opinion at times, but she rarely answered. _What if she was broken ? _

When they finally made it back to the mansion, Charles, Erik and Moira still hadn't returned from their meeting. "I'm going to take a shower and change." Lettie announced, the first words she'd said out loud since their talk earlier. She went up the stairs without waiting for a response.

The water of the shower relaxed her, just like water always had. The warm water washed the stress away from her body, but couldn't quite ease the uncomfortable tug that had remained in her stomach. Getting out, she threw on some comfortable clothes then went to find Raven, who she found sat in her room, reading a magazine.

"Hey, Rave." Lettie spoke softly from the door.

"Hey, girl!" Raven sat up quickly and patted the bed for Lettie to join her. She was always so welcoming. But I guess that's a learned trait when someone welcomes you into their house after you'd been stealing for years. "What's up?"

"I'm sorry I was distant. I'm just nervous." Lettie said quietly.

"It's alright, Lettie. We're all just worried about you. You're fine and your powers will be fine. Did you try using them in the shower?" She asked.

Lettie shook her head. "I didn't want to risk hurting them more, if they really do just need to rest. And I was afraid that they wouldn't work. I don't think I could handle that."

Raven smiled an understanding and comforting smile. "You hungry?" She asked.

"Starved." Lettie laughed. They had eaten breakfast that morning, yes. But that was five hours ago.

"I'll bet the boys are, too."

"When are boys _not_ hungry?" Lettie asked jokingly. They went to each of the boys rooms, but none of them were in there. "What the hell?"

"I don't know." Raven said. "When I came up to my room, they said they'd be up, too."

They walked down all the floors, but didn't see a sign of them anywhere. Lettie thought she saw movement out on the lawn, so she checked out the window and laughed at what she saw. She called Raven over, who also laughed at the sight of the boys playing with a football out in the yard.

None of them seemed to possess any great skills. Alex seemed unsure of himself, tensed up his body and looked like he was having a seizure as he ran around the yard. Sean, awkward as always, missed the ball most of the times he attempted to kick it, as well as tripped over it quite a few times. Hank acted as though the ball were a bomb, handling it awkwardly for a few seconds before quickly passing it away.

"Oh, this is classic." Raven smirked as she and Lettie went out the door to watch them closer. The guys all yelled a greeting, before Alex passed the ball to Lettie. Having never played football before, only ever watching the guys in her neighborhood kick a small one around the street, she barely knew what to do. She kicked it from foot to foot a few times, before laughing and passing it to Raven. Or at least, she tried to pass it to Raven, but completely missed her mark and kicked the ball off in the opposite direction, even though Raven was barely 20 feet from her.

"So, we'll never be a professional football team." Lettie laughed.

Forty-five minutes, and several horrible kicks later, lights passed over the laughing mutants as the elders returned... with another truck. Charles quickly pulled his vehicle up to the mutants.

"You all doing alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, we're okay." Raven reassured him. "Just don't go inside. The house is a wreck and your study... Well... Let's just say books are very flammable."

"Har har. Very funny, Raven." Charles rolled his eyes.

"What's in the other truck?" Sean asked as Erik jumped down from the truck. Moira had gotten out of Charles passenger seat, so all the mutants plus Moira were gathered around the muddy football.

"Ahhh. Hank, I do believe that this truck will bring you great pleasure." Charles smiled at Hank, who quickly ran to look in the back. The others followed, wanting to see the great surprise.

They could hear Hank rummaging through, phrases of joy filling the air, before they ever even got to the truck. Looking inside, they could see lab equipment. Not just lab equipment, but nice lab equipment. And a lot of it. Lettie couldn't understand why Hank would need so many different microscopes. He only had two eyes...

Hank jumped out of the moving van. "Charles, all of this stuff is... Thank you! I can research all of our mutations! I'll get started as soon as I get the lab set up! Thank you!" Hank spoke quickly in his excitement, which was radiating off his face.

"Do not mention it, my friend." Charles quieted his many thanks. "Have you lot eaten today?" The group, minus Hank who was still sorting through the stuff on the truck, shook their heads. "Well, what say you I whip us up some dinner?"

Cheers were heard through the grounds as the hungry mutants rushed in the house, eager for some food. They could hear Charles yelling at the to wash up from outside.

"I'm taking a shower before dinner. I haven't run that much ever!" Lettie said as she continued running upstairs, the others agreeing and following behind her. However, seeing as they had many, many, many stairs to go up, their run didn't last long. Sean was the first to stop, throwing his arms out as he gasped for air.

"Can't... no... further... Go on... without... me." He breathed dramatically as he lay down on the stairs, not even attempting to carry on. Raven rolled her eyes.

"We're almost to the top, you big baby." She huffed, out of breath herself.

"Whatever. You lay here and wallow in your own sweat. _I'm_ going to take a shower!" Lettie spoke between gasps before continuing her way up the stairs, though admittedly at a slower pace, with Raven. Alex clapped Sean on the shoulders before hauling him up by his elbows and pushing him along. Never leave a man behind. Especially not when said man is laying in a pool of his own sweat, staining the extremely nice staircase that you have to walk on everyday.

Lettie's second shower for that day was very relaxing. The water made her feel better than she had all day, though it brought the fact that her mutation hadn't worked back to the front of her mind. Jumping out of the shower, she quickly dried off and threw clothes on, not even bothering with her hair. She was hoping to get to Charles to talk to him without the others around. She knew they meant well, but that's the thing. They wanted her to feel better, and she had a feeling that they would lie to make her do so. They didn't even know for sure what was wrong with her. Lettie just hoped that Charles would offer more satisfying answers.

"Hey, Charles? Do you have a minute?" She asked as she walked into the kitchen where he was stirring a pot of something on the stove.

"Naturally. What's on your mind?" He asked kindly.

"Well, it's just..." Lettie instantly broke down into tears as she began retelling what had happened earlier, more than slightly ashamed at her inability to keep it together. When she finished explaining what happened, all she managed was to continually spew out apologies for blubbering like an idiot.

"It's quite alright, love." Charles reassured her. "Your … _blubbering_... as well as the fact that your mutation 'didn't work'. It's as Hank said, your mind was simply tired. You pushed it too far. How often did you use your mutations before you met me?"

"Not as much as I do now." Lettie admitted.

"It's like exercising your body. You have to slowly, gradually, work up to full strength. Sometimes you push your body too hard during a work out and have to take a rest for a small while. It's nothing to worry about, my dear. Perhaps tomorrow in training your powers will be back to normal." He gave her a warm smile that succeeded in making her feel better.

Alex and Sean chose that time to walk into the kitchen, loudly rough housing each other.

"Boys." Charles said, slightly stern but not meanly. "IF either of you break anything in this house, I can assure you that you will pay the punishment."

"Punishment?" Lettie snorted. "Charles, you have got to be the kindest, warmest person I know. What punishment could you possibly give that is worthy of creating fear?"

"How about having 'I Know A Song That Get's On Every Body's Nerves' stuck in your head until your dying day?"

The three young mutants flinched and stared at Charles in horror.

* * *

**So, I know. I KNOW. You don't have to tell me how much I suck. But I promise, next chapter will having training, which will be a bonding time for all of the mutants. I just.. I love you all so fiercely. My reviewers, my followers, my favouriters, my silent stalkers (which I'm very guilty of), each and every one of you. I love you. If you've stuck around this long, we should be best friends. I wanna get to know you guys a bit more. IF you could have any mutation, what would it be? And what would you call yourself? I personally would want Lettie's mutation (kinda why I gave it to her). **


	8. Chapter 8

**Woo. This was significantly quicker than my last few updates! Not much Alex/Lettie (Letex? Altie? Sirvok? Haven? There aren't any good ship names for this :( ) in this chapter, but... it happens.**

_**Spirited Mare**_** :**** Um, having the ability to talk to animals would be a kick ass mutation. Haven't you seen RTWM? She totally stopped Junkyard from tearing them to bits. Plus, you could be like, CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP CHEEEEEP! And all the birds would shit on and dive bomb your attacker/ opponent. That would be very helpful! I like it!**

**Hm. Next question. WHAT SHOULD LETTIE/ALEX'S SHIP NAME BE?! But really. And if you can't answer that one... what's your favourite colour? Mine is teal and grey (:**

* * *

"Today's training is more of a trust exercise. You will be paired into groups of two and bound together. One person will be blindfolded and the other will have their ears stuffed with these plugs to completely block out the hearing. Each team has a flag of a different color that is placed somewhere along the grounds. It will take team work and communication. First team to find the flag and return it to me will be the winners, but your restrictions must still be in place. Hank and Raven, you'll be one team. Alex and Erik, you'll be another. Lettie and Sean, you're the last. Moira, if you would help me bind the teams, please."

Charles had woken them early that morning to begin their training, and every one of the mutants stood with sleep still in their eyes, hair still mussed from the night before, and an unhappy look upon their face.

"Don't look so pitiful, guys. It'll be fun!" Moira tried to cheer them on.

"Says the girl who gets to sit at the house with all of her senses still in tact." Erik said bitterly. He wasn't happy about having to train with the younger mutants, but he knew that he, too, had to get a stronger bond with each of them. One by one, the teams were bound together and either blinded or deafened. When Charles got to Lettie and Sean, he asked who wanted to have which restriction.

"I'm not fond of either, to be honest with you." Lettie told him around a yawn. "Blind me, I suppose." She hoped Charles knew how big of a step this was for her. She wasn't one to trust people easily, especially not strangers. So the fact that she was now bound to a relative stranger with a thick bandana being wrapped around her eyes was a big deal. She felt her heart race when she realized that she could see nothing, not even the early morning sunlight, through the tie. Charles moved on to Sean, and Lettie could only assume that he was putting in his ear plugs.

"Right. Your flag is red. Sometimes in life we must weed out what is not beneficial and focus on growing what will flourish our needs. Good luck to you both." Charles told her cryptically. She felt Sean jerk a bit and realized that Charles had patted him on the back. It was true, you take away one sense and all of your others became magnified. She could hear the other teams walking around them, the ones that were blindfolded grunting and moaning about their lack of sight, or yelping as they tripped. She heard what sounded like Erik's booming laugh and Alex cussing up a storm. This brought a slight smile to her face. She realized she was wasting time when Sean tapped her on the shoulder, as if asking where to go. Right, what had Charles said?

Their flag was red. That was obvious. How could she... his hair! She reached her unbound arm out and searched for Sean's head, then tugged on his hair when she finally located it.

"Ow! What the hell, Lettie?!" He exclaimed.

"I'm sorry! I just... the flag is red! Your hair is red!" She told him before realizing that he wouldn't hear her. Sighing, she tugged again, gently.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded, and tugged his hair again.

"My hair?" Again, she nodded and tugged.

"My hair. Long? Luscious? Beautiful?" She rolled her hidden eyes and stuck her tongue out, tugging his hair again.

"Red?" She nodded furiously. "Our flag is red?" She nodded again. "Woo! We've got this!" Sean yelled louder than necessary before taking off in a run towards the grounds. Being caught unaware, Lettie flew to the ground, taking Sean with her as she reached out for a steady hold.

"SEAN!" She yelled, not appreciating the fact that she was laying in the wet, dewy grass. Sean picked her up and guided her in a random direction, making sure she knew they were running. Lettie rolled her eyes once more as she realized that he was just running, looking for a red flag. He hadn't heard the clues that Charles gave him. She tugged his arm to stop and he did, complaining. "You can't be tired already! We've just started!"

Lettie shook her head and held up a finger, signaling for him to wait, then pointed to her head.

"What do you have to think about? We have to find the red flag!" Sean tried to run off again, but Lettie stood her ground, pointing to her head again to think.

_Sometimes in life we must weed out what is not beneficial and focus on growing what will flourish our needs._

What the hell? What on the grounds could not be beneficial? Or would they have to grow to flourish their needs? Why did Charles have to be so fucking cryptic? They're bonding, not taking a riddles test.

Weed out what isn't beneficial. Grow what will flourish our needs.

Weed and grow.

Weed... and grow...

Does Charles have a fucking pot plant somewhere? He probably does. He probably has a pot plant growing right beside his carrots and vegetables and...

The garden! The fucking garden! Of course! But how in the hell is she going to signal the garden to Sean, when he can't hear her? Maybe he can read lips. She snapped to be sure she had his attention. She had heard his sighs as she was thinking and knew that he was getting impatient.

"You ready to run now?" he asked, but she shook her head.

"The garden!" She said, mouthing the words to emphasize what she was saying.

"Gargoyles?" Sean asked. "We have to crawl on top of the house?!" Lettie shook her head and attempted to mouth once more. "Are you acting like a fish? Do we have to go back to the lake?"

Lettie face palmed and shook her head. She reached out again, in a wave of genius, and found his hand.

"You wanna hold hands? Well, that's fine by me, pretty lady. Ready for us to go find this flag?" Lettie slapped him on what she hoped was the arm and held his hand out. Taking her finger, she started to trace out the letters. G-A-R-D-E-N.

"You're practicing drawing right now? On my hand? While blind?" G-A-R-D-E-N.

"You're spelling something!" She nodded furiously. G-A-R-D-E-N. "Slow down! One letter at a time... G... A... R... I thought you said it wasn't gargoyles! … D... E Garden! It's in the garden!" Sean, in his excited state, took off again. Lettie, in her unaware state, fell to the ground again.

"I'm so sorry, Lettie! I'm just really excited!" Sean yelled. He had been going back and forth between yelling and whispering the whole time, the ear plugs not letting him hear just how loud his voice was. As she crawled up, Lettie threw up a noncommittal hand, signaling that it was okay that he had thrown her to the ground once again. "Are you ready?" She nodded her hands and they started walking, building up to a run. "I have to be honest with you, I have no idea where the garden is!" Sean yelled as they ran. "I'm just running around and hoping we'll stumble across it!"

It was at this time that Lettie realized that she had absolutely no fucking idea where they were. They could be in the middle of the woods, lost. They could be right beside the house. They could not even be in Charles range any longer! This was a bad idea and she was going to be sure to tell Charles just how bad an idea it was if they ever got back to the mansion.

"Do you know where the garden is?" Sean whispered to her while they were still running. Lettie shook her head. "Wait! I see a gate! Maybe it's there!"

Lettie only sighed and hoped that this was it. She hoped they weren't lost or royally fucked.

"This is it! Holy shit, this place is a mess! We'll never find a flag in all of this!" Sean whispered excitedly.

It was at that time that Lettie felt Charles' voice in her head. '_Return to the mansion, if you will please. The game is over.'_

"I see it!" Sean shouted and dragged Lettie over to wherever the flag was. "I have to climb though. Lettie, I need you to take a big step up! Find the bench!" Lettie shook her head, the game was over. They could stop. "We're getting this damn flag! Now climb!"

Lettie sighed and allowed Sean to lead her to the bench and step up on it. "Almost got it!" Sean shouted, then yelled a victory shout. Lettie assumed that he jumped off of the bench, because next thing she knew, she was thrown to the ground. Hard.

"FUUUUCK!" She yelled, grabbing at her leg that she had landed on awkwardly.

"Lettie! Shit! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Sean asked, worried. Lettie quickly nodded her head, just wanting to get back to the mansion and get this blind fold off of her. Sean pulled her to her feet, but when she went to step, she collapsed. "You're not okay. You can't even walk! Shit. I'm such a bad partner!"

"Sean! Just shut the fuck up and get me back to the mansion! I'm in a hell of a lot of pain right now and would really enjoy just getting the fuck back! I don't care how sorry you are. I'm not in the mood!" Lettie knew he couldn't hear her, but he seemed to get the point of what she was saying.

"Here, put your arm around me. I'll carry you as well as I can." He offered. And he did. Awkward and ungraceful as it was, it worked. They were to the mansion in two minutes time.

"Ahh. The last of our teams has arrived. Whatever has happened?" Lettie heard and silently let out a prayer, thanking God that they were back.

"I fell. No big deal. But I can't walk." She told Charles as Sean put her down. The other mutants were all undoing their bonds, and the last team were quick to do the same.

"Lettie, I am so sorry. I just... I got excited." Sean said, worried that she would be overly mad.

"It's okay, Sean. I fell. No big deal. No big shocker. I'll be fine by the morning." She breathed a sigh of relief as the blind fold fell off of her eyes and she could once more see the light. Erik and Alex were staring at each other with a bit of disdain in their eyes, and Raven and Hank seemed relaxed, happy. Lettie could only assume that they were the winners, especially seeing as they were the only other ones to have their flag.

"You're hurt?" Raven asked, rushing over to her friends side, the huge smile slipping a bit. This drew the eyes of all the other mutants.

"No big deal, really." Lettie tried to brush it off. She completely overrode her words when she tried to take a step and promptly fell. Alex rushed over to help her up and swept her up into his arms.

"What happened?" He asked as he began taking her back to the house, with Charles permission. Training was done for the day. They were to try and limit their accidents to one a day, if possible.

"I just tripped. I couldn't see a damn thing." She told him.

"I pulled her off of a stone bench in the garden, after pulling her down two other times." Sean told truthfully from beside them.

"Sean, really. It's okay. No big deal. I'll be fine. Actually, I'll be fine to walk to the house, with a bit of assistance. You really don't have to carry me." Lettie told Alex, who promptly ignored this last bit. She just sighed. She really wasn't a damsel in distress. She'd had worse injuries than falling off of a stone bench before.

* * *

**Umm. Yeah. I'll see you guys next time I update.  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**I got quite a few responses to last chapter. Thanks guys (:**

**A few of the ship names that I had suggested : Havren & Attie (Guest) Allie (Spirited Mare) and Alettix (BethyXstar)**

**I like those a lot. I'm really really digging Havren. Kind of reminds me of a safe haven. Probably because havren and haven are one letter off. Whatever. I like Havren.**

**As always, thank you thank you THAAAAANK YOOOUUUU for the reviews. You guys are fucking awesome. Especially to those that are still following and favouriting and the ones that haven't just given up because I'm a failure at updating. Okay.**

* * *

The two boys, regardless of how many times she begged and screamed and kicked, would not let her walk to the mansion, nor up the stairs, by herself. This slightly bothered Lettie. She appreciated it, really she did, okay no she didn't but still, she didn't have to be carried like a babe. Finally they made it up to the top floor of the house and Alex deposited her on the bed. Both of the guys stood awkwardly around her, Alex just shuffling his feet and Sean bouncing around.

"Do you need anything?" Sean asked.

"For you guys to realize that I'm perfectly fine." Lettie huffed.

"Anything else?" Alex asked sarcastically.

"Yes, actually. I'm going to shower. Will the two of you be assisting me in there, as well?" Lettie snipped. Sean blushed a furious shade of red and chuckled nervously. Alex never broke eye contact, though he had a playful smirk on his face.

"If you insist." He quirked his eyebrows as he lifted her once more, this time throwing her over his shoulder, and took her in the direction of the bathroom. "Come on, Sean. The lady requested assistance in the shower."

"Well, alright then!" Sean came bounding after the two mutants, the lady-part of which was yelling,

'"I WAS KIDDING! PUT ME DOWN YOU BIG BABOON! I CAN TAKE A FUCKING SHOWER! GET ME OFF OF YOUR DAMN SHOULDER! I'M GOING TO DROWN YOU!"

Meanwhile, Alex was calming talking under her. "No, my Lady. You requested assistance in the shower. What kind of friends, nay, _MEN_, would we be if we didn't assist such a proper lady in her time of need? This really is a matter of keeping our manhood."

When they got to the bathroom, Alex gently took Lettie off of his shoulder and placed her in front of him, firmly on the ground. He stared at her, one eyebrow cocked, and she stood back and crossed her arms while huffing.

"You boys are such a fucking pain in the ass. Thank you for your assistance." She bit sarcastically before pushing the boys out and slamming the door in their faces. As soon as the door was shut, she sat on the ground. Her leg really fucking hurt. But she wouldn't let the boys know it. OH no. That would just give them incentive to baby her for MONTHS. Lettie rolled her eyes as she pulled her way up from the ground and hobbled over to the really nice shower. As she was washing off the sweat she had gathered in the cool morning (something she couldn't understand until she realized that she had ran around the grounds for HOW long), she realized what she had thought earlier. Incentive to tease her for months. _Months. _Subconsciously, Lettie was still planning on being around months from now. Realizing this was weird for her. She hadn't been planning on staying that long. Just for a little while. Surely she could just come up and fight with them whenever they needed her. She really missed her mom. But when Lettie realized that the hot water of the shower was making her leg feel a hundred times better, all other thoughts left her mind and she simply enjoyed the water as she always had.

By the time Lettie was done in the shower, her leg felt as if it had never even been hurt, save for a slight throb when she tested this out and jumped on it. _Maybe Charles has magical water, _Lettie mused._ Wouldn't put it past him, not with everything else._

Throwing on clean clothes, with her hair pulled behind her, Lettie ran down the stairs into the kitchen. She was ravenous. There, she found all of the others gathered with food piled on their plates.

"YOU SAID ONE INJURY A DAY!" Sean yelled accusingly from the other side of the island.

"Really, Sean. You're over-reacting. It's not an _injury-_" Charles tried to reason with him as Lettie was filling up her plate.

"It'll hurt, that makes it an injury." Sean shot back.

"What's an injury?" Lettie asked.

"Charles wants Hank to run blood work on all of us, see if he can't figure out a bit more about each of our mutations." Raven explained to her.

"And Sean is claiming that having the needle stuck into his skin counts as an injury, so they can't do it today." Erik finished.

"Oh, come _on_, Sean. It's not _that_ big of a deal! I'll hold your hand for you while you have your arm stuck with the itty bitty needle if it'll make you shut the hell up." Lettie rolled her eyes as she took the opportunity to tease the red-head. Payback for being such an ass and helping Alex carry her all the way to her room. Speaking of Alex, Lettie noted that he was not present in the kitchen. She voiced her wonder as to where he is out loud, and Charles was quick to respond,

"He said he needed to have a bit of alone time. I can only imagine that it's hard for him to be in a house full of people constantly interacting with him. I trust he told you all of his past. He's not use to the social means of living with others. Not quite yet. He still has his walls, and I must ask each of you to not push him. If he walks away, give him some time. Yeah?"

The younger mutants all nodded, but Lettie wasn't satisfied. She wanted to find him and talk to him. Whether he needed a break from people or not, it wasn't nice to be alone all the time. And he'd have to slowly get use to it anyways. So after scarfing down her food, Lettie decided to go find him. With a nod to pass on the word to Alex, should she or any of the others see him, that they would be taking blood this afternoon for Hank to study, she began making her way upstairs. She had no idea where to look and this place was huge. Then there was the fact that he might not even be in the house, and the grounds were... well, huge is an understatement. She decided to start in his bedroom at the top of the house. _Damn, _she thought as she reached the top floor. _With all these stair on top of the training we're doing, I'll be fit in no time._ She huffed slightly as she walked to the door that had been claimed as Alex's and knocked. But there was no response. She knocked again, and once again there was no response. Lettie debated. He could be in the shower, so he didn't hear her knock. Or he could be sitting there, hearing her knock, and ignoring her in hopes that whoever it is knocking will just go away. Or he could not even be in his room. Lettie knocked once more, and after getting no response, she acted on impulse and pushed the door open slowly. His room was empty and the door to the bathroom was open. He wasn't in here.

In noticing that his room was empty, Lettie also noticed that his room was... _empty_. No person touches adorned the room, no extra clothes or books or pictures. It was a homey room, but she could tell that everything in it was Charles'. The fact that Alex had nothing, had the past few years of his life in a prison, was once again brought to Lettie's mind. This boy was something else. He was quiet, but funny. More than handsome, more than beautiful, but broken. And Lettie felt for him.

She realized that she had been standing, staring at the nothing-ness of his room, for a good five minutes when she snapped back to reality and quickly shut the door. She ruled out any of the other bedrooms and went down to the second floor, then the first, searching every room and coming up empty handed every time.

Sighing, Lettie realized that this meant he was on the grounds. _This will be fun. I suck at hide and seek. _She whined to herself. _I guess I don't have to go find him. He'll come back eventually. _She thought, her laziness peeking through. But then there came the voice from the back of her mind, _**Yes, you do. **_And with no more complaints to herself, she pushed open the front door and stepped onto the expansive greenery.

_If I was a teenage mutant boy who had been in prison for most of my life and wanted alone time, where would I go?_ Lettie asked herself. Sighing when she realized that she had no idea where to even start, she just began walking around. She scanned the trees, looking for a figure or s sign that he had gone that way, but there was nothing. She walked past the gate where she and Sean had found the garden earlier, and backtracked. Peering in, she was surprised to see Alex perched on a bench with his head in his hands. Now that she had found him, Lettie was unsure if she actually wanted to go say something. Of course she did, but maybe it was best to listen to Charles and just leave him alone. If he had requested it... Almost against her will, she found her feet quietly moving her close to him.

"Alex?" She whispered, laying a hand on his (very muscular) back. "Alex, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Lettie." He whispered. "It's just overwhelming being around people all the time. I'm fine. What are you doing out here?"

"I... I was worried. I wanted to make sure you're okay. Weird or not, I was worried about you." Lettie admitted, standing to go back into the house. "We're drawing blood later this afternoon. Hank is going to run tests and see if he can find anything out about our mutations. I'll see you later, okay?" She rubbed his back comfortingly before stepping away and going back towards the house. She had gotten to the gate when she heard Alex call out.

"Lettie. You can stay." Pausing only for a second, Lettie quickly walked back to him, talking softly as she did.

"Sean is determined that we're not giving blood today. He said that Charles said only one injury a day, and because giving blood will hurt it's classified as an injury." She said with a smile on her face. Alex laughed in shook his head in his hands. It was quiet for several minutes before Alex looked up at Lettie and whispered,

"You don't have to stay. I like having you around, even when it's just quiet, but you can go back to the rest of the house. I'm sure they're much more entertaining."

"I don't mind sitting out here with you." Lettie smiled at him once more. "This is actually where our flag was hidden, I'm assuming. I couldn't really see anything, but I'm guessing that this is the only garden on the grounds. Probably not, though. This place is fucking massive. But I think it was this one. And I'm guessing this bench thing is what Sean climbed on to get to the flag. If I'm talking too much, just tell me to shut up."

"No, no. Keep talking." Alex assured her. "I do like being around people. I'm just not use to it. Even before I went to prison, I kept myself isolated. I wanted to avoid as many accidents as I could. But I always wanted to be around other people."

"I get it. When you're by yourself for so long it, it's what you get use to. On the days where my mom works for two or three days straight, sleeping at the hospital and everything, and I'm off of work, I only ever have my fish to talk to. My fish and my books. I've never had many friends. It's weird to think that I – _WE – _now have a load of friends back at the house. Friends that are like us, won't judge us for our differences or our backgrounds. The people inside that mansion... I have to believe that they honestly, genuinely care for us. Even Moira, the mutant loving human. We're all good guys here."

"But the bad guys are out there. And they're threatening to take away the closest thing I've had to a family in a long time. They've already taken... Darwin..." Lettie could tell that just saying his name caused Alex a wash of grief, and she placed a hand on his arm. "And now we're against them. Being against them means that we won't just get to sit here in peace, especially not if they're trying to cause what we're trying to stop. We already saw how powerful they are, how dangerous. Why get close to a group of people, when you know that there's a good chance it'll get torn apart?"

Lettie sat in silence, wondering how to say the words on her mind. "Family." Alex caught her stare. "No matter how tough times get, you don't give up on your family. They're strong, but so are we. Do you realize how differently that would have gone, had Charles and Erik been there? Yeah, they took out a building full of C.I.A. Men, and yeah, they overpowered a group of untrained teenage mutants, but that's why we're here. We have to learn to fight. To protect ourselves and our family."

For the first time since they were all thrown in a room together, strangers that would become closer than air, Lettie saw his smile as he repeated one word. "Family."

When the two young mutants arrived at the mansion a few hours later, they walked in on Sean standing at the foot of the stairs with his arms crossed across his chest and a determined look on his face. Charles was attempting to push him up the stairs from behind, Raven was pulling him up, Hank was standing at the top of the landing, unsure what to do with himself, and Moira and Erik were standing off to the side with amused looks on their faces, but he wasn't budging.

"Lettie promised to hold my hand. Since she's not here to hold my hand, I don't have to get stuck with a needle."

"Actually," Lettie spoke up from the door. "We're right here. So come on, you big boob. Let's go." She laughed as she and Alex walked calmly up the stairs. They could hear Sean cussing and still fighting behind them. Rolling her eyes, Lettie stopped, turned, and held her hand out.

She and Sean had an intense stare off before he finally accepted defeat, dropped his head, and walked slowly up the stairs. When they got to the lab, Lettie and Alex both volunteered to go first. Within three minutes, Sean was sat on the table with a rubber band around his forearm, a kicked-puppy look on his face, and Lettie's hand being crushed by his.

"Seriously, Sean. I don't understand what the big deal is. It's just a little-"

"OW! MOTHER OF GOD! WHERE WAS MY WARNING?"

Lettie just laughed, winked at Hank, who had ingeniously stuck Sean while he was distracted, and walked innocently out of the room. The booming laughs of all but Sean could be heard even on the stair case.

_I think I'm going to like it here. Family._


	10. Chapter 10

**wut, wut, wut, wut. wut, wut, wut, wut. Two updates in (basically) two days? Hey, it's technically three, but I haven't gone to sleep yet so i'm saying two and i'm the writer here so what i say goes. This is just a filler. There will probably be a lot of those in this story. let's be honest, the movie didn't really focus much on what training and bonding went on at the mansion. the ten minute montage was about all we got. I'm just... I'm so ready for Days of Future Past. Juuuust putting that out there. And that I have no other X-Men fandom friends. So... who want's to go see the movie with me when it comes out next flippin' year? :P**

* * *

The night before had passed uneventfully. Each mutant had given their blood, as had Moira so Hank could compare the samples. Dinner had been eaten, and stories of Charles and Raven growing up in the mansion, of Moira's childhood, of Sean and Lettie's families, even Alex spoke of his childhood before prison. The bond of each person is the house grew stronger with each memory and emotion shared. The group had gone to bed early, knowing that if every day of training was to be as exhausting as today had, they would all need their sleep.

When Lettie awoke the next morning, she went downstairs after a quick shower. When she arrived in the kitchen, she found that everyone but Charles was already filling their plates and stuffing their faces. Joining in with everyone else, she mumbled a good morning. Lettie was much more of a night owl than a morning person. Charles came in shortly after her and also filled his plate.

"I've set up a few things around the grounds today. We'll be doing individual training for now. Moira and I will be collecting each of you when we are ready. Today is mainly seeing how progressed you are in your powers. Hank, if you'd like to join me for a quick run after we finish breakfast, you can go back to your lab if you wish." Hank nodded his agreement. "There really aren't any rules here, but keep in mind we do have a few. I ask each of you to stay on the grounds. Don't harm one another. Play nice. And please, for the love of all that is good, don't break my house. Other than that, I'll see each of you when I'm ready for you."

Charles quickly finished his food and he and Hank headed outside for their run. Moira said something about checking out the library and Erik stalked off without a word, leaving the younger mutants to themselves.

"So, what are we doing today then?" Raven asked.

"You live here. You tell us. What is there to do?"

"Well, we can go to the library with Moira. Or we can go explore the grounds. I lived here for years and I still find new things every day. Or we can..."

Lettie wasn't really listening to anything Raven said. She was thinking about her mum. She missed her an awful lot. Call her a baby, call her immature, whatever. Lettie loved her mom. She was all she really had in this country. And it sucked being so far away from her now. She wondered what she was doing, how she was doing. If she had a new routine or if she was still lost without having her only daughter there. If the fish was still alive. She really loved that fish.

"Lettie? Are you okay?" Alex asked from across the table.

"Yeah, yeah. I was just thinking about some things." Lettie smiled.

"You were totally spaced out. Did you hear anything I just said?" Raven asked, sounding some what offended Lettie hadn't been listening to her.

"Umm. No. Sorry."

"Well, we're going back to that pond we went to before. You in?"

"Hell yeah! That place was beautiful!" Lettie said with a smile.

The group put their dishes in the sink and went upstairs to get changed. Lettie had been about to pull on a pair of shorts when there was a knock at the door. Opening it, she found Raven with a huge smile on your face.

"I brought a swim suit!" She said excitedly, handing the garment over to Lettie as she walked in the door.

"I was actually thinking about just wearing some shorts and a tee-shirt." Lettie told her, shyly. She was a conscious about her body, like most other young girls. The more clothes, the better in her eyes.

"Whatever. You can't wear shorts and a tee-shirt to swim in! That's not the point of swimming. Besides, you're really pale. You need the sun!" Raven argued.

"Rae, the pond was covered in trees. I won't get sun anyways. Besides, I'm Irish. I don't tan. I burn, then I peel, then I'm back to the same white color as before." Lettie argued back.

"Pleeeaaassseeeee. Just put the bathing suit on. I'll feel like an idiot if I'm in a bathing suit and you're in clothes."

"That's stupid." Lettie laughed. But she rolled her eyes and began pulling the suit on anyways. Raven cheered and went back to her room to finish getting ready. Lettie sighed. _Oh well. It's just Sean, Alex and Raven. It's not like the entire world is going to see me._ Pulling her shorts and a shirt over the suit, which fit her surprisingly well, Lettie slipped her shoes on, grabbed a towel from her bathroom, and stepped out to where Sean and Alex were already waiting.

"Where's Raven?" Lettie asked.

"I"M ALMOST READY!" She yelled through her door.

"Raven, we're going _SWIMMING_ what do you have to do to get ready?! Just throw the suit on, throw some clothes on and let's _go!_" Lettie yelled back.

"Hey!" Raven opened the door, fully dressed and ready to go. "I'm a woman. Don't rush perfection."

The group laughed and joked, picking on Raven for being a 'woman' in all her 'perfection' as they made their way down the stairs and out onto the grounds. They met Charles and Hank, who were talking and walking around the building.

"Where do you four think you're going?" Charles asked.

"We're going to the waterfall. We'll be back in a little while." Raven told him.

"Don't stay gone too long. We still have training to do."

The teens mock saluted the man who had taken them in, who was training them to use their powers, and took off for the pond. As soon as they got there, the boys stripped down and jumped in.

"HOLY SHIT!" Alex yelled as his head broke out of the water.

"Cold?" Lettie asked, teasingly.

"It's freezing!" Sean complained.

"Well, were you expecting warm water? It's the middle of fall." Raven rolled her eyes.

"Well, why aren't you two in yet?" He complained. Raven looked at Lettie, who had looked at her. They were both thinking the same thing. Did they really want to get in to freezing cold water? Even if their bodies would adjust to the cold...

"I think I'm just gonna sit up here for a while." Lettie spoke first.

"Yeah, I'm gonna sit with her." Raven agreed.

"Are you kidding me? The two of us have to sit in here and freeze our asses off while you two stay up there dry and warm?" Sean whined.

"Hey, neither one of us told either one of you two to jump in the water as fast as possible." Lettie defended as she and Raven sat at the edge of the rocks with their feet in the water. As soon as Lettie's toes felt the cold, she gasped. "That is fucking cold." She laughed, only imagining the way the boys must feel.

"Whatever. You guys are missing out." Alex laughed as he ducked Sean under the water, holding him there for a while. When Sean finally fought his way up to the air, he screamed,

"OH, IT'S ON!" and tried to tackle Alex into the water. Instead, he bounced off of him and only succeeded in dunking himself in.

"They're crazy." Raven said with adoration in her voice.

"Absolutely insane." Lettie agreed with the same tone.

Ten minutes later, the girls were deep in a talk about everything and nothing when they heard the guys getting out.

"Awe, already done?" Raven asked with a teasing tone.

"Nnnoo..." Sean answered, sounding suspicious as hell.

"Then what are you guys doing? And Sean, why the hell do you sound so guilty?" Lettie asked, turning to look at him. He was standing behind Raven and Alex was behind Lettie with a slight smirk on his face. Lettie realized two seconds too late what was about to happen. "NO! DON'T YOU GUYS DARE! I SWEAR IF YOU THROW ME IN THIS WATER I WILL-" _splash._

"HOLY SHIT BALLS!" Lettie rose from the water screaming. "It's so cold it hurts!"

Raven was yelling obscenities from beside her where Sean had thrown her in. The guys were still perched on the rocks, doubling over in laughter.

"That was cruel!" Raven complained. "You guys suck."

"Yeah, well." Sean laughed as he jumped back in.

Twenty minutes of splashing and swimming, playing Chicken on the guys shoulders, and complaining about the temperature, their bodies had finally gotten used to the water. After knocking Raven off of Sean's shoulders for the third time, Lettie patted Alex on the head.

"Let me down, I'm tired." She asked. Unexpectedly, he complied. Swimming over to sit underneath the waterfall, Lettie found that it was not only beautiful, but slightly warmer without the cool breeze going through the air. Alex had followed her and was perched beside her on the bench-like rock.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just can't believe that this is real life. We're all at a waterfall, playing chicken, while our trainer is back at his mansion, where we all live. We're going to fight a war against other mutants. We're going to save the world. And a week ago I was working at a bookstore and going to school for cosmetology. Living in a small apartment with my ma and our fish. And I didn't know any of you."

"It's real. It's a dream, but it's real." Alex said, laughing. "I know what you mean. If you had told me, a week ago, a year ago, or 15 years ago, that this is where I would be, I would have laughed in your face."

At that moment, Sean and Raven swam under the waterfall.

"Not interupting anything, are we?" Raven asked with a smile. "Sean's hungry."

"Sean's always hungry." Lettie rolled her eyes. "It's freezing out here anyways. We need to change clothes before we die of hypothermia or pneumonia or something."

Getting out of the water was worse than getting in. Bodies and hair and clothes soaking wet and weighed down with freezing cold water, water than the towels could only lift so much of, was miserable. The wind had gotten cooler and the skies were dark.

"Lettie." Raven complained. "Can't you dry us off?" Lettie was silent. "Lettie?"

"It's just... I haven't used my powers since that time here. When I tried warming the water. I'm... I'm afraid to. I'm afraid they still won't work."

"Girl, your powers are going to be fine. Warming the water was a big job. You're not broken. But I get it. I'm not going to push you."

Lettie smiled, thankful for that. She knew she was letting them down. Knew that, before, she could have had them dry in no time. But now? Now, she's afraid to even try.

By the time they reached the mansions, they were only damp, but their clothes were stiff and their noses were runny and sniffling. When they walked through the door, Charles met them coming down the stairs.

"Oh, dear. I'll go put on some tea, yeah?"

The mutants all nodded their heads and told him just how much they would love that before heading up to their rooms. The first thing Lettie did after stripping out of her cold, damp clothes, was take the hottest shower she could stand. She could feel her body thawing out, though her nose was still runny.

She was relieved to see a grey sweatsuit on her bed when she finally walked out of the warm, steamy bathroom. She swore it hadn't been there before. She just assumed that Raven had put it there for her. That was fine with her, she hadn't thought to bring sweatpants.

She and Raven emerged from their rooms at the same time, and Raven was wearing the same suit.

"Thanks for the sweatsuit." Lettie said gratefully.

"I didn't give you the sweatsuit. It must have been Charles." Raven told her as they walked down the stairs.

"- if that's okay with you." Charles was saying to Alex.

"It's fine with me, if Lettie is okay with it." Alex told him, drinking his hot cup of tea.

"Okay with what?" Lettie asked.

"Ahh, I was just talking to Alex here about training after we finish our tea." Charles smiled warmly at the newcomers as he offered them tea and sugar.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Well, Alex told me to bring a fire extinguisher. I thought, instead, we could just take you." Charles told her.

"Charles... I don't know if I can... My powers. I'm not sure." Lettie said uncomfortably.

"My dear, I am sure that you have nothing to worry about." Charles told her comfortingly. "You have to try your powers some time, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I suppose." Lettie said slowly, as she made eye contact with Alex. He was watching her carefully, his eyes scanning her face. He smiled when she did. "Alright. After tea."


	11. Chapter 11

_In an apology for my lack of updating, here is a chapter that is full of Havren interaction. Yay. But first I figure I should reply to some reviews, not that you've all probably forgotten what you said. Oops._

**Guest**: I'm glad you're enjoying! I hope you're still around to read!

**Rosiegirl52**: I am very sorry to report that I am not meaning to have any Erik/Charles pairings. I've never really been about that. While I have nothing against gays (that would be a bit hypocritical lol) I've just never really seen them as a likely pair. But I'm happy that you like!

**SpiritKiss**: I love Sean, haha. He might actually be my favourite.

**Penpal678910**: I was hoping it wouldn't be too cliché, haha.

**Urgh**: It's unfortunate that you hate Lettie. I wish you could have been a bit more constructive as too WHY you hate her. Is she Mary Sue-ish? Boring? Stupid? But, since you said you'd stop reading on Chapter 3, I suppose this is pointless. So I ask my other reviewers, is Lettie any of those things?

**ZabuzasGirl**: Well, almost a month later is almost immediately, right?

**Rainyrainicorn**: Oh my lord. I just. You don't even. I can't. I love you.

**BlackStar422**: I'm taking 'Yeah' to mean, 'OH MY GOD YOU'RE FLIPPING AWESOME AND YEAH I JUST DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY SO HERE HAVE A FREE PUPPY', to which I must ask, where the hell is my free puppy?

_My reviewers and supporters and followers and alert-ers are all awesome and I love you all so much. I've been rubbish at updating, I know. This is probably the most rewritten chapter yet, and I'm honestly still not all that impressed with it. It has an awkward being. But I figure it's been entirely too long since I've updated and I'll just have to grin and bare it. So please, don't hate me for this rubbish._

* * *

Hank clapped Lettie on the back reassuringly while chugging his orange juice. 'Good luck' rang out of the kitchen, as well as a suggestive, 'you two have fun!', as the three mutants headed out to train.

Ignoring Sean, Lettie asked, "Where are we going?"

"We'll be down in the bunkers." Charles explained as he led them to a set of stairs just outside the back door that led to a door.

"A bunker?" Alex questioned.

"Oh, yes. My father took the idea of nuclear war very seriously." Charles laughed. The door that had led to a hallway ended in another door.

"And are you sure these walls can hold me?" Alex was unsure and nervous about using his destructive powers. Lettie grabbed on to his arm in what she hoped was a reassuring way, but the truth was, she was nervous as hell. Not only because she had seen how powerful and dangerous Alex's powers were, but also because Charles had brought her down here in hopes she could use her powers to overpower his. And she wasn't so sure she could do that.

The bunker was huge. A half cylindrical shaped room that had no windows, no furnishings, and, apparently, no heat. It was bloody freezing and Lettie was, once more, grateful for the sweatsuit that had apparently been given to all the mutants.

"I'll be back in a minute." Charles told the two as he went back out of the room and up the stairs.

Watching him leave with a slightly concerned look on her face, Lettie started walking to the other end of the bunker before turning to Alex.

"You okay?" She asked him. He looked at her and began walking beside her to the other end, checking the place out.

"Fine, yeah. What if I blow through the walls? Or, I don't know, hurt you?"

"Alex, you're powerful, yes. But I don't think you're nuclear bomb powerful. Not yet." Lettie laughed.

"And hurting you?" Alex reinforced.

"Water overcomes fire. Remember that." Lettie winked playfully.

"I'm just not so sure about this."

"Neither am I." Lettie admitted. "But here we are. And while I'm not sure about this, I trust Charles."

Alex was quiet for a minute before he whispered, "Yeah, I trust Charles, too. Lettie, are you sure about this? You're nervous to use your powers. I know you'll be fine. Charles and all the others know you'll be fine, but you don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

Smiling at his concern, Lettie walked closer to him and was about to open her mouth when Charles walked in carrying a mannequin. "Charles... What the hell are you doing? Haven't you heard that three's a crowd? Four is just unnecessary." She joked.

"Funny. But, no. This is Alex's target." Charles told the two, setting the plastic woman down. "Alex, you'll be standing down there at the other end. We'll leave the mannequin here. Your goal is to hit her with your … powers. Got it?"

The three mutants walked down to the other end of the bunker. "Yeah, I got it. Are you sure about this?"

"I'm positive." Charles said with a smile.

"Well, if you're serious about this, you might want to get out." Alex warned him.

"Alright." Charles nodded his consent and began stepping towards the door. Lettie followed quickly after. Before the door shut between them, Lettie whispered a quick, 'Good luck.'

She and Charles looked at each other, both wondering what they would see on the other side. The alarm blared quickly, alerting them that there was fire on the other side of the door. Charles smiled widely as the opened the door, but it quickly turned to a shocked expression. Lettie gasped as she walked through the door and saw the fire strips all along the bunkers were burning. The walls and floors and ceilings. But not the mannequin. The plastic woman that before looked indifferent and emotionless now looked smug.

"Oh my God. Lettie, if you would?" Charles requested.

Lettie made eye contact with both Charles, who was smiling at her, and Alex who was simply staring at her. He smiled a bit and nodded, wordlessly telling her that he knew she could do it.

Lettie closed her eyes. She could do this. She hadn't attempted to use her powers in over a day. They were well rested. There's no way her powers were_ BROKEN_. It wasn't possible. Her powers were HERS, not something that could be taken away. As Lettie began to focus on the power in the atmosphere, the foggy morning and the condensation, as she began to imagine the fire surrounding them being extinguished, Lettie felt the familiar tug in her gut, a feeling that caused her relief. At least her body was attempting to work. She pulled on the tug, harder and harder, the pull becoming stronger and stronger. More and more intense.

She could feel it. Feel the water forming, waiting to do her bidding. She imagined the fires out, imagined the room soaking wet. Okay, no. Not soaking wet. But damp. She felt her body burst forth energy and power and opened her eyes.

Shit. Everything was soaking wet. The walls, the ground, the ceiling, the smug ass mannequin, even Charles and Alex. But the fires were gone. Looking over the room slowly, Lettie turned to Charles who was watching her with a shocked, yet proud look on his face.

"Well done! A tad bit excessive, but brilliant, none-the-less!" Charles said with a clap to her back.

"Yeah, great job, Lettie." Alex chimed in.

Still slightly shocked, Lettie stood for a minute more looking at her handiwork.

"Lettie? Are you alright?" Alex asked. Lettie turned to look at him with a huge smile on her face. She threw her hands up in the air in a fist pump and jumped for joy.

"WOOO! I'M NOT BROKEN! MY POWERS WORK! HA!" She celebrated, overjoyed that her powers had worked. Not only had they worked, they had kicked some _ass_.

"Yes, yes. Your powers are just fine, love." Charles laughed at her celebration. "And as for you, Alex. Don't worry. I will teach you to control yours, just as we have to teach Lettie to control hers. You both will learn to have complete control. I need to talk to Hank."

And with that he was gone, leaving the other two to walk up to the mansion on their own. They took their time, walking in silence until Lettie broke it.

"Alex?"

"Hmm?"

"Next time... Can I watch you?"

Alex stopped dead in his tracks. "Are you insane? You are, aren't you? You want to stand in the room with me while I blow energy filled fire rings out of my body? Don't you realize how dangerous that is?"

"We've already been over this. You're fire, but I'm water. Alex, I'll be fine. It'll be fine." Lettie argued back.

"Why would you want to stand in there anyways?"

"I just... I'm curious. I want to see how it works."

"How it works? Lettie, this isn't a science project. This is dangerous. I don't know how it works and it happens to me. I swing my body a bit and rings shoot out. Rings that can cut a statue in half and set an entire room on fire."

"Right. I'm sorry. Forget I asked. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm just curious." Lettie started to walk again, but Alex stopped her.

"Look, it's just really dangerous. You _know_ my powers have _killed_ people before, Lettie." Alex was staring her straight in the eyes. No blinking, no looking away.

"I said forget it, Alex. Really. It's no big deal. Just a weird whim." Lettie walked back to the house and into the kitchen. Grabbing a cup of water, she turned to Alex, who had followed her and was leaning up against the kitchen counter. "I'm going back to bed. I'm tired." Alex still hadn't said a word, but followed her upstairs. As she went to her door, he followed her still, past his door. "Seriously? Are you just going to follow me everywhere without saying a word today? If I go jump in the shower, will you be there right behind me? When I get in the bed, are you gonna join me? Or are you just going to stand over me and watch me sleep?" Alex looked like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out. "Whatever. I'm going to bed." She walked in her room and went to shut her door, but Alex stopped it.

"Can I join you?" He asked quietly.

There was an awkward pause. "You want to join me in bed?"

"I don't want to be alone right now. I don't know where the others are, but I don't want to be around them either. I just... Can I join you?" He sounded pitiful.

"Whatever, Summers. But you keep your hands to yourself." Lettie moved back to let him through the door. "And not a damn word to Sean."

There was no sign of the others as the two young mutants walked silently up to the third floor of the house. When they got to Lettie's room, Lettie instantly walked in and crawled into her bed. Alex stood awkwardly by the closed door as if unsure as to what he was suppose to do.

"You gonna stand there like a fish out of water, Summers?" Lettie snorted. "Either get in the bed or go away."

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Alex asked.

"It's not like we're going for a roll in the hay. Either get in the bed or leave." Lettie said shortly. She was a bit tired of his... gentleness. Where was the big bad Alex Summers that didn't seem to have any emotions and didn't care what others thought? The one that would have never asked if he could join her in bed simply because he didn't want to be alone. He slowly walked over to her bed and sat awkwardly. "Well, you're halfway there." She rolled her eyes as she propped herself up against the wall.

Alex leaned back and seemed to be focusing on relaxing. "Tell me about your family." He said quietly.

"Did you miss the whole point of coming to bed because I'm tired? I'm not feeling the pillow chat right now." Lettie quipped as she slid down the wall and on to her pillow. Alex didn't respond, and there was silence once more. Lettie was tired and unreasonably angry and it hurt to think about her family. She thought she had been a bit unfair to Alex. He wasn't one to open up or attempt to get close to people, from what she had seen. So, still facing away from him, she began to speak quietly. "We had a fairly good life, in Ireland. Me mam and pap were happy and loved each other. They loved me. We weren't excessively rich, but we had what we needed. A little cottage on a farm in the bay. I loved that place. The water was amazing. When I was 15, my pap died unexpectedly. Well, unexpectedly for me, at least. Cancer. Bone cancer. He had been battling it for years and I never knew. My parents did everything in their power to keep me from finding out. They thought he'd beat it. I only found out when I was unpacking a few boxes and found a few reports filed away. Me mam still doesn't know that I know. After pap died, the memories of our family in the house became too much to bare. Ma was going crazy and I stayed gone a lot. When I was home, I was reading or spending all my time in the water. So we moved. Got out of the cottage, out of the bay, and out of Ireland. It was hard, leaving my home. But it was for the best for the both of us.

We weren't sure where we wanted to go. We weren't sure where there was to go. But my pap had always talked about coming to the States, so that's where we ended up. Ma got her a job at a hospital. I finished out schooling over here, got a job at a bookstore, and started school for cosmetology. We were just living our lives like normal people. Me mam and I were close. She's all that I really had here. And I'm all that she's had. I've tried to talk her in to dating again, she's still young and beautiful and full of life, but she thinks it would be a dishonor to my father. I hope that now that I'm gone, she'll reconsider. Maybe she'll find her a nice partner and he'll make her laugh and smile like my pap use to. I'm a lot like my pap. I've got his temper, his hair, his eyes. We both love books and animals and water. Picnics and stargazing. We were an average family, before he died. Nothing adventurous or abnormal or interesting. Just your average family."

Lettie flipped over in the bed so that she was facing Alex, who was propped up against her wall but was looking at her.

"Your family sounds nice." He finally spoke.

"What about yours?"

"You know about mine. I killed my sister." He deadpanned.

"There's more to your family than that, Alex. There's more to you than that." Lettie whispered. Alex sat in silence, and Lettie thought that he wasn't going to answer. Wasn't going to open up to her.

"My parents worked a lot. Dad was a doctor and mom was a professor. They were gone a lot, but when they were home we were, like you said, your average family. I was always the trouble maker. My temper got in the way a lot. Not to mention I had a tendency of lying and getting caught. My sister, Julia, was the good kid, I guess you could say. Got good grades, had good friends, never broke curfew. She was a good sister, too. No matter how many times we fought and argued, I knew that she had my back. I would get picked on a lot, and get in a lot of fights. But if she was ever around when I got picked on, she would stand up for me. Make the other kids back off. I remember this one time that I almost got in a fight with the neighborhood bully. She walked up to him and punched him in the stomach because he hit me. I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head. Then she took me out for ice cream. We got in our own fights, but she was the only one that was allowed to be mean to me and pick on me, in her eyes.

The kids had started to pick on me for having my sister as a protector and it got to me. I didn't appreciate it the way I should have. That's what we were fighting about. I told her to stay out of my business and let me fight my own battles and she told me to stop being stupid. I ran out of the house, and just lost control. I didn't mean for it to happen. I never wanted to hurt her. Not when she had protected me for so long. And just like that, in one second of snapping, she was gone. And it's my fault."

Alex was talking as if he had a lump in his throat, and Lettie was speechless. She didn't know what to do or say, so she just scooted up beside him and pulled his head down to cradle him comfortingly.

"You're not a murderer, Alex. You're not a bad person. It was an unfortunate accident. It has affected you in ways that I can't even begin to imagine. But you're not a bad person. And you can't let that mistake ruin you. Let that be your guide, your inspiration. Learn to control your powers for your sister. For Julia. You have more of a reason that any of us to learn control. You're not a bad person." She cooed softly, hoping that she was being at least a bit comforting. Alex didn't say anything, though Lettie thought she felt her shirt becoming a little wet. She certainly wasn't going to point that out. If big, bad Alex Summers needed a cry, then she wasn't going to embarrass or intervene, dammit. Laying her head on his, she fell asleep to thoughts of her mam and pap, and of Julia, a friends protective sister that she never knew.

* * *

_... yeah.  
_

_-Moe xx_

_P.S., I'm moving into my dorm this week-end and classes start on Monday. If this semester is anything like my first two, I should have a good amount of time to write and I will hopefully get on a good schedule. But for this week, I shall be packing everything up and getting ready for the move. Wish me luck on University: Attempt 2!_


End file.
